Three men in black pin-striped suits delayed my departure from Jos, claiming to be from the ‘State Security Service’ . ID was shown at my request and in hindsight I think they were genuine. At first you can never be sure in Nigeria, particularly when those concerned have just stepped out of a bakery. They laughed and agreed I was right to be suspicious.

‘Are you aware of the situation in Jos?’ was the question put to me. I’d just spent five nights cocooned in the secure and peaceful compound of a missionary-run Guest House. Jos and its ethnic/religious tensions seemed a World away, but it’s an issue that simmers close to the surface here, and one unlikely to be resolved any time soon.  Read more... (750 words, 3 images, estimated 3:00 mins reading time)

Thanks to Hiromu  I was able to get some photos and video clips of a talk I gave at Hillcrest International School here in Jos yesterday. I began the talk receiving a ‘boo’ for saying I felt like I’d been transported out of Africa with my microphone headset plugged in. Fortunately my positive comments about Nigeria won a few cheers back later on.

Speaking in Nigeria from Peter Gostelow on Vimeo.

Tomorrow the two of us leave Jos and the cool temperate plateau destined for Yankari National Park. Photos of elephants in the next post perhaps?

On a quiet road the journey from Abuja to Jos would be pleasant. Once the urban concrete thins out a boulder-strewn landscape takes over as the altitude steadily rises to above 1000m. The problem is the condition of the road; it’s too well-paved. This means traffic, of which there is too much for a 2-lane road, goes as fast as humanely possible. Little wonder the roadside is littered with the remains of car wrecks.

Hiromu called me to stop a short distance out of  the city. His speedometer was reading 25,000km. “I want to make a photo. It is special moment”. I fully agreed. My computer was just approaching 16,000km, which is roughly 10,000 miles.  Read more... (359 words, 7 images, estimated 1:26 mins reading time)

Abuja is not a typical African city. To start with I’m not sure there are any poor people living here. The makeshift market stalls, tin-roofed shacks, bare-footed children and street hawkers so characteristic of urban Africa are noticeably absent here. As are the piles of rubbish and other man-made detritus. It is certainly the cleanest city I’ve visited on the continent and the only one that doesn’t feel overpopulated. The fact that living here is so expensive partly takes care of that.  Read more... (967 words, 5 images, estimated 3:52 mins reading time)