Nigerian Languages/Food

Languages of Nigeria

The number of languages currently estimated and catalogued in Nigeria is 521. This number includes 510 living languages, two second languages without native speakers and 9 extinct languages. In some areas of Nigeria, ethnic groups speak more than one language. The official language of Nigeria, English, the former colonial language, was chosen to facilitate the cultural and linguistic unity of the country.

The major languages spoken in Nigeria are Hausa, Igbo, Yoruba, Edo, Efik, Ibibio and Annang language, and French Adamawa Fulfulde, Idoma, and Central Kanuri. The Annang/Efik/Ibibio languages are actually three dialect of the same language, when add together, they form the fourth major Nigerian language.

Even though most ethnic groups prefer to communicate in their own languages, English, being the official language, is widely used for education, business transactions and for official purposes. English, however, remains an exclusive preserve of a small minority of the country's urban elite, and is not spoken in rural areas. With approximately 75% of Nigeria's populace in the rural areas, the major languages of communication in the country remain tribal languages, with the most widely spoken being Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba. Foreign minorities speak their own languages aside from English and/or major native languages as their second languages.

Nigeria's linguistic diversity is a microcosm of Africa as a whole, encompassing three major African languages families: the Afro-Asiatic, Nilo-Saharan, and the Niger-Congo A branch of the Niger-Congo family. Nigeria also has one unclassifiable language, Cen Tuum, spoken by a few old people among the Cham in Gombe State. This may represent an intriguing relic of an even greater diversity prior to the spread of the current language families.

I have learned more Hausa than the other languages. My favorite sayings to date are:

-Ina kwana= Good morning

-Ina wuni= Good afternoon

-Yaya aiki= How is work?-

-Aiki da godiya= Work is good

-Yaya gajia= How is the tiredness?

-Ba gajia= No tiredness

-Na gode= Thank you

-Aboki na= My friend

-Sai anjuma= See you later

-Said a safe= Good night

-kadon-kadon= small small (a little bit)

-Zucachi abinci= come and eat

Here is a bit about Nigerian food:

Nigeria is one of the world's most ethnically diverse countries. The Hausa and Yoruba make up around 21 percent of the population; the Igbo/Ibo, 18 percent; the Fulani, around 11 percent; and Ibibio, 5 percent. Various other groups make up the remaining 23 percent.

Nigeria has such a variety of people and cultures that it is difficult to pick one national dish. Each area has its own regional favorite that depends on customs, tradition, and religion. The different foods available also depend on the season: the "hungry season" is before the rains arrive in March, and the "season of surplus" follows the harvest in October and November. Fruits, however, are enjoyed year-round. A large part of Nigeria lies in the tropics, where many fruits are available. Some of the popular fruits are oranges, melons, grapefruits, limes, mangoes, bananas, and pineapples.

People of the northern region (mostly Muslim, whose beliefs prohibit eating pork) have diets based on beans, sorghum (a type of grain), and brown rice. The Hausa people of this region also like to eat meat in the form of tsere or suya (kebabs, which are chunks of roasted, skewered meat). Muslims love to drink tea, making coffeehouses popular places to socialize.
The people from the eastern part of Nigeria, mostly Igbo/Ibo, eat gari (cassava powder) dumplings, pumpkins, and yams. Yams are usually eaten in place of potatoes and are an important part of the Nigerian diet. However, African yams are different than Western yams. They are pale, barely sweet, and are not commonly found in United States supermarkets.

One of my favorite foods is goat head. It is actually really good. Check it out, this is from a trip to Benue State:

Abuja

Here are a few pictures and then a bit about the city I stay in, Abuja:

This is the house I stay at with 3 other co-workers:

This is my driver, Salami: Aso Rock and the National Mosque:
The Mosque at Wuse Market

Abuja, officially Abuja Municipal Area Council or AMAC, is the capital city of Nigeria. It is located in the centre of Nigeria in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). Abuja is a "planned" city, as it was mainly built in the 1980s and officially became Nigeria's capital on 12 December 1991, replacing the role of the previous capital Lagos. As of the 2006 census, the Federal Capital Territory has a population of 778,567.

Abuja's geography is defined by Aso Rock, a 400-metre monolith left by water erosion. The Presidential Complex, National Assembly, Supreme Court and much of the town extend to the south of the rock. "Aso" means "victorious" in the language of the (now displaced) Asokoro ("the people of victory").

Other sights include the Nigerian National Mosque and the Nigerian National Christian Centre. The city is served by the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, while Zuma Rock lies nearby. Abuja is known for being the best purpose-built city in Africa as well as being one of the wealthiest and most expensive; however, the population on the semi-developed edges of the city are living in shanty towns such as Karu. Karu, built to house the capital's civil servants and lower income families, has no running water, sanitation or electricity.

History

In light of the ethnic and religious divisions of Nigeria, plans had been devised since Nigeria's independence to have its capital in a location deemed neutral to all parties. The location was eventually designated in the centre of the country in the early 1970s as it signified neutrality and national unity. Another impetus for Abuja came because of Lagos's population boom, that made that city overcrowded and conditions squalid. The logic used was similar to Brazil building its capital Brasília.

Construction broke ground and was dedicated in the late 1970s, but due to economic and political instability, the city in its initial stages was not complete until the late 1980s.
The master plan for Abuja and the Federal Capital Territory was developed by IPA (International Planning Associates), a consortium made up of three American firms: PRC Corporation; Wallace, McHarg, Roberts and Todd; and, Archisystems, which was a division of the Hughes Organization. The master plan for Abuja defined the general shape and major design elements of the city, however a refinement of this design was accomplished by Kenzo Tange, a renowned Japanese architect, along with his team of city planners at Kenzo Tange and Urtec company.

Most countries moved their embassies to Abuja and maintain their larger former embassies as consulates in the commercial capital, Lagos.

In addition to a major governmental centre, Abuja is the headquarters of the Economic Community of West African States or ECOWAS. It also has the regional headquarters of OPEC.
Abuja and the FCT have experienced a huge population growth; it has been reported that some areas around Abuja have been growing at 20 – 30%. Squatter settlements and shanty towns have spread rapidly in and outside the city limits. Tens of thousands of people have been evicted since former FCT Minister Nasir Ahmad el-Rufai started a demolition campaign in 2003.

Andy is back in Africa... again

Hello all,I want to do a better job telling you all what I am up to, so I am going to continue with the blog. While my new position will require travel, I should still be able to have internet access often and be able to make a posting once a week.

So first off, here is let me tell you a bit about Clinton HIV/AIDS Initiative (CHAI). Here is the blurb from the website:

"Right now, there are 33.2 million people living with HIV/AIDS in the world. More than 90% live in developing countries, where access to treatment is much more limited than in the developed world.

President Clinton established the Clinton HIV/AIDS Initiative in 2002 to close this gap in access by negotiating lower prices for lifesaving antiretroviral treatment, and by working with governments to improve the national health care systems required to deliver crucial medicines.
Since then, CHAI has expanded its scope of work beyond ARVs to increase access to diagnostics and malaria medicines, as well as to address a variety of issues that must be overcome in order to turn the tide of the HIV/AIDS pandemic, including:
Supporting governments to deliver HIV/AIDS services to underserved populations, such as children and those living in rural areas Increasing countries' human resource capacity to deliver care and treatment Preventing the transmission of the disease from mothers to their children.

Our Approach
The Clinton HIV/AIDS Initiative (CHAI) applies a unique business-oriented approach to changing the market for medicines and diagnostics and supporting developing countries to scale up HIV/AIDS care and treatment programs through three main programs:

Access Programs: CHAI’s Access Programs work with generic pharmaceutical companies and other suppliers to reduce the cost of lifesaving antiretroviral medicines, testing and diagnostic equipment, malaria treatment, and nutrition. Major Programs: CHAI's major programs specialize in specific areas of need, including pediatric treatment, increasing access to care and treatment in rural areas, strengthening countries' human resource capacity for health, and preventing the transmission of HIV/AIDS from mother to child.

In-Country Programs: To ensure that governments can aggressively expand access to HIV/AIDS care and treatment, CHAI assists national governments and their ministries of health to develop sound health care policies around HIV/AIDS, strengthen management capacity, and implement cost-effective and comprehensive national responses to this epidemic."

So I am the state pediatric program manager, here is my job description:

PEDIATRIC PROGRAM MANAGER, STATE LEVEL, NIGERIA – ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Pediatric Focal Persons’ Network
Overview – National-level network in place to provide a forum for doctors treating children at primary, secondary and tertiary levels. This is to share information and experiences; to dispel myths about difficulties in treating children; to provide a new means of disseminating national policy; and to standardize the quality of pediatric care and treatment across the participants’ catchment areas, emphasizing that pediatric C&T is as important as that for adults. Network members represent all 6 zones and include those pediatricians who the SAPC has identified as state- or zone-level mentors, as well as representatives from sites actually responsible for treating children. SAPC representative will attend, too. At the end of the Network meetings, ~2 presentations per state are encouraged (6-slide, CHAI format) and RFPs provided on how they might improve uptake and quality of services with money from CHAI’s “Small Grants Program.” 3-5 successful candidates are chosen per round.


Tasks
•Provide support on all clinical aspects of the network, including dissemination of job aides, and materials from meetings related to clinical matters.
•Coordinate and plan related presentations and trainings (e.g. in FDCs or RUTF) for sub-sets of the Network.
•Be in constant communication with doctors from the network to ensure information is shared consistently between the primary, secondary and tertiary facilities and staff.


State scale-up of pediatric ART sites
Overview – CHAI participates in scale-up process through partnerships with State governments. Model: each state identifies a tertiary-level ‘mentor’ and three primary or secondary sites lacking support which state’s mentor will visit at least twice a month and mentor/train its staff in pediatric care and treatment. The mentors’ tertiary facilities will provide support to the scale-up sites, e.g. CD4, chemistry, hematology, chest x-rays. Each scale-up site has been expected to bring ~100 new children onto ART within their first year. Currently have 10 States on board (30 scale-up sites). Plans to have 5 more in 2008.

Tasks
•Work with mentors to develop budget for scale-up in their three sites, with provisions for the tertiary level site.
•Coordination and planning of MoU signing process with State and agreements with mentors.
•Constant communication with mentors to ensure that training materials, ARVs, RUTF, test kits etc are in adequate supply, and that delays/problems (i.e. sample transport) are addressed.
•Coordination and planning of ToT for State mentors, including bringing in external experts from CHAI.
•Monthly collection and follow-up/justification of mentors’ reporting. Liaising with Folu to provide aggregated numbers for monthly reporting into KidsStat.

First week
During my first week I was getting an understanding of the situation and my role, but I also traveled to Akwa Ibom state to evaluate the renovations of a new DNA PCR HIV testing laboratory. I flew to Calabar, Cross River State, and then drove to Uyo. Here are a couple pictures:



Bakassi

Interestingly, while I was there, Nigeria handed some land, the Bakassi Peninsula, back to Cameroon based on a UN ruling. Here is a small article about it:


Nigeria cedes Bakassi to Cameroon

Thousands of people have moved from their homes in Bakassi Nigeria has handed over the potentially oil-rich Bakassi peninsula to Cameroon, bringing an end to a long-standing dispute over the territory.


The handover ceremony was moved from the peninsula's main town to Calabar in Nigeria amid security concerns.

Over the past year about 50 people have been killed in clashes.


The majority of the local population considers itself Nigerian, but an international court ruled in favour of Cameroon in 2002.


The BBC's Abdullahi Kaura in Calabar says there are unconfirmed reports that militants have attacked a boat travelling to Abana, the main town on the Bakassi peninsula.

Nigerian security sources said between three and seven people were killed when militants ambushed the boat as it made its way from Cameroon.

Correspondents say security had been beefed up ahead of the ceremony.
On the Cameroonian side, there have been celebrations as people moved back into the peninsula.
In recent years, at least 100,000 people have moved from the peninsula to Nigeria, local leaders say.

The International Court of Justice ruling was based on an early 20th century colonial agreement between Britain and Germany.


Nigeria challenged the ruling, but finally agreed to relinquish the territory two years ago.

"The gains made in adhering to the rule of law may outweigh the painful losses of ancestral homes," said the head of the Nigerian delegation at the ceremony, Attorney General Mike Aondoakaa.

Part of the territory was handed over to Cameroon two years ago.


Revellers
A spokesman for Nigerian President Umaru Yar'Adua said the process was "painful... for everyone including the president", but added that Nigeria had made "a commitment to the international community and we have a responsibility to keep it".

Bakassi plan stirs tensions

Cameroon said the final handover would mark "the end of a crisis".
On the beaches of the northern part of the island there were parties and celebrations as Cameroonians prepared to go into the last section to be turned over to them.

"We are going straight to the place, and we're going to be happy," one reveller told the BBC's Randy Joe Sa'ah in Bakassi.

But in Nigeria there is still bitterness about the deal.

"The government has abandoned its duties," said Kayode Fasitere, the lawyer acting for some displaced from Bakassi who sought to have the handover delayed.

The transfer of Bakassi had been described by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon as "a model for negotiated settlements of border disputes".

A group of Bakassi leaders have been seeking compensation from the Nigerian government.
About 90% of the area's population, estimated at up to 300,000, is made up of Nigerian fishermen.

About 30,000 of the residents have moved out to an area in Cross Rivers State set aside for them, but it has no access to the sea, campaigners say.
Bakassi has a rich fishing culture and people say the handover has destroyed their way of life.


The Bakassi peninsula juts out into the Gulf of Guinea close to the Niger Delta.
Its offshore waters are thought to contain substantial oil fields - untapped because of the border dispute - which Nigeria and Cameroon will now work together to explore.


Amsterdam
On a side note, during the flight back from the US I had a 7 hour layover in Amsterdam and took the time to get out of the airport and explore. I go got to check out a museum and see many Rembrandts. Here are some pics: