FON news Fall 12-2.pdf - Friends of Nigeria

Friends of Nigeria
www.friendsofnigeria.org Fall 2012 Vol 17, No 1
The Tuttung Dispensary Renovation Project:
A Progress Report
By Jim Clark (12)64-66 with the assistance
of Phillemon Landy Tubei , VSO Resource
Mobilization Advisor to Church of Christ in
Nigeria Community Development Programme
(CCDP)
Whether it’s renovating deteriorating
school buildings, providing grain storage
silos for farmers or bringing abandoned
fish farms back to life, Friends of Nigeria
(FON) continues to provide assistance
to communities in Nigeria. The Tuttung
Dispensary Renovation project is the most
recent example.
Started in 1982 by Church of Christ
in Nigeria (COCIN) missionaries, the
Tuttung Dispensary was intended to
provide health care for needy persons
in the 12 communities surrounding the
facility. After the church and community
struggled to run the facility, it was leased
to private operators in 2005. Unfortunately,
however, a lack of funding resulted
in further deteriorating services, unsanitary
conditions and the eventual closing.
Phillemon Tubei, a VSO volunteer
serving the Tuttung area, was made aware
of the FON/VSO grants programme
and, in the spring of 2012, submitted a
request for a grant of $3,000 to bring the
dispensary back to life. The grant review
committee granted the funds and FON
treasurer, Peter Hansen, transferred the
funds to the group’s account.
On August 1, 2012 Tubei and project
officials held a one-day meeting to
facilitate and exchange views on problems
and share roles and responsibilities
for the implementation of the project. A
working committee of seven members
was constituted to oversee the renovation
of the dispensary and all agreed that the
renovation project would be community
based and would have the assistance of
community officials and locals in the
renovation phase.
Community leaders discuss project details.
Newsletter
At that meeting, according to Tubei,
“a step-by-step procedural guideline was
prepared. Community meetings were organized
to disseminate information about
the project. The community members were
made fully familiar with project rules and
the roles and the responsibilities of all the
stakeholders.” Committee members were
given the responsibilities of selecting building
materials, specifying where the building
materials were to be bought and identifying
carpenters and masons to perform the
skilled labor portion of the project.
The purchased materials were delivered
to the community on August 8,
2012 and formally presented to Deputy
Programme Coordinator Luther Vulchi,
VSO Advisor Phillemon Tubei, CO-
CIN Community Development Project
Regional Coordinator John Omanga
and VSO Agriculture Advisor Collins
Adubango. The renovation work began
on August 24 th and is expected to be completed
in five months. Tubei’s VSO term
ends in November 2012, but he expects
the project to be largely completed and
the dispensary ready to begin providing
services by then.
Minneapolis FON Dinner
By Peter Hansen (27) 66-68
With over 60 people in attendance,
the June 29th Friends of Nigeria Dinner in
Minneapolis was a huge success. The bulk
of the attendees were Nigerian-Americans,
but also included RPCVs from Burkina
Faso, Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Zaire.
Coming the greatest distance were
FON members Ron Dirkse (11) from
Tokyo and Pat Lambert (11) from Alaska.
The other FON member attendees were
Mike (& Carolyn) Brown (12), Peter &
Katy Hansen (27, 27), Helen Harms (07),
Ted (& Phyllis) Holm (06), Steve (& Rose)
Manning (13), Lynn Olson (& Frank
Fall 2012
Stone) (10), Bud Paape (15), Dagmar Romano
(CUSO), and John Romano (11).
The event’s planning committee,
consisting of Lynn Olson, John Romano,
and Marge Snoeren, are to be commended
for their efforts. Lynn Olson also displayed
and sold many FON T-shirts to raise funds
for FON (see ordering information in this
Newsletter).
The dinner was catered by Twin Cities
Nigerian-Americans headed by Queen
Obasi, the same person who catered the
1999 FON dinner in St Paul. The menu
included: suya-meat on a stick (spicy),
jollof rice with shrimp, jollof rice (plain),
chicken (hard hen), chicken, yam with
spinach sauce, dodo (fried plantain), baked
goat meat, goat meat pepper soup, fish
(Continued on page 4)
Patricia Walker, Myah Walker, Angela Osuji
FON Newsletter 1

President’s Column
By Mike Goodkind
FON is all about communication,
whether that means keeping up with old
friends, learning about others who have a
connection one way or another to Nigeria,
discovering the latest news or opinion
about Nigeria and its relationships in the
world, or, hey, by finding out how you
can send us some money for a worthy
cause or a dinner reservation.
We’re about to make communicating
with FON, each other and our partners
and friends a lot easier via a completely
redesigned website that, among many
things, will integrate more closely with
this newsletter. We are also exploring ways
that might in the future make it easier to
pay your dues, buy your FON t-shirts or
holiday cards, link to the nostalgia and
resources of our FONwiki, and access our
GoogleGroup more easily. While informal
research and common sense tell us that
there is wide variation in our use of such
social media as Facebook, Twitter, etc.,
our website project will explore ways to
utilize these tools, now confined primarily
to, pardon the expression, younger members
— and of course older folks who
want to stay in touch with the grandkids.
Who knows, with the blessing of our
treasurer, we might even begin to collect
membership dues, renewals and related
inquiries via the new website — hopefully
before the demise of the U.S. Postal Service
or many of us, whichever comes first.
I’m pleased to announce that your
Board of Directors has unanimously authorized
$1,000 pay for design, licensing
and associated costs to develop and launch
a reinvigorated website. A professional
designer is working with a FON team
consisting of President-elect (more on that
in a minute) and current web maven Greg
Jones, my fellow AG/RD Peace Corps
alumni and current IT guru/Wikifon.
com developer Chris Collman, Newsletter
Editor Jim Clark, Newsletter designer and
layout editor Owen Hartford, and myself.
Over the coming weeks we will be asking
members to review various components
and design elements. Any FON folk who
might be interested in participating in this
effort should contact me, goodkindm@
gmail.com. We will also use the Google-
Group and its loyal users and members to
run through ideas.
One particularly compelling possibility
for the website will be to bring closer to our
membership the virtual sights and sounds
from the Nigerian communities where we
have provided financial support. We will
have a broader venue for photos and stories,
including the possible opportunity for Nigerian
students and others to interact on their
own page or linked site. In my book, this is
way cooler than a postcard.
Please take a look at the article on
page 5 and thus “introduce yourself”
to our two latest Board Members, Lynn
Olson and John Romano. Actually John is
returning to the board after a decade-long
hiatus. John and Lynn offer tremendous
breadth and depth of experience and
leadership. Lynn’s experience as a trial
judge is peppered more recently by her
artistic foray into a t-shirt entrepreneurship;
John took some time from his career
as an executive and faculty member at a
major university to serve as impresario of
the Nigerian-themed bash at FON’s Twin
Cities gathering. We’re certainly fortunate
to have John and Lynn as the enthusiastic
newest members of our board.
By this time I had hoped to hand over
not only this column but the FON presidency
to Greg Jones, but the Board has
asked me to stay on while Greg completes
an intensive therapy regimen for multiple
myeloma. Greg is scheduled to spend
October as an inpatient, and I’m sure
the thoughts, cards and emails from his
FON friends will be most welcome. Our
thoughts are with Greg and his family as
he faces his challenge. Please feel free to
contact Greg’s address in the FON directory.
I will also be happy to forward your
wishes if you email me at goodkindm@
gmail.com.
And keep those emails coming with
your thoughts, suggestions, etc. on the
FON topic(s) of your choice. Don’t
forget to check in with our GoogleGroup,
http://www.friendsofnigeria.org/, and
soon, please do check out our redesigned
FON website.
FRIENDS OF NIGERIA
NEWSLETTER
Quarterly publication of Friends of Nigeria, Inc.
www.friendsofnigeria.org
affiliate of the
National Peace Corps Association
Editor
Jim Clark
wjclark016@gmail.com
Layout Editor
Owen Hartford
hartfordo@earthlink.net
Assistant Editor
Warren Keller
warrendkk@yahoo.com
Nigeria News Editor
Virginia DeLancey
v-delancey@northwestern.edu
Book Editor
David Strain
destrain@pacbell.net
Proofreaders
Earl (Buzz) Welker
Steve Manning
Alice O’Grady
Mary-Ann Palmieri
Printer
Leesburg Printing Company
Leesburg, Florida
-------------------------
FRIENDS OF NIGERIA
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
President
Mike Goodkind
goodkindm@gmail.com
Vice President
Greg Jones
gregory.j@comcast.net
Membership Chair
Barbara Tansey Bush
btbush@earthlink.net
Treasurer
Peter J. Hansen
pjhansen@ia.net
Secretary
Murray Frank
mwfrank17@gmail.com
Newsletter Editor
Jim Clark
wjclark016@gmail.com
Lucinda Boyd
boydcinda@gmail.com
Steve Clapp
Steve.Clapp@informa.com
Virginia DeLancey
v-delancey@northwestern.edu
Fr. Edward Inyanwachi
esinyanwachi@dons.usfca.edu
Lynn Cloonan Olson
lynn.olson59@gmail.com
Andy Philpot
awphilpot@shaw.ca
John Romano
roman001@umn.edu
Gregory Zell
gregzell@mindspring.com
2 FON Newsletter Fall 2012

Letters to the Editor
Letters to
the Editor
Dear Editor,
In the summer 2012 issue of the
Friends of Nigeria newsletter, a book
written by former P.C.V. David Koren
entitled Far Away In The Sky was
reviewed by David Strain. I purchased a
copy and am almost done reading it. The
main reason I am writing this letter is to
communicate with David Koren. The
reason will become obvious as I continue
to write.
I was in Nigeria from September of
1964 to June 1966 (Nigeria 12). I was
stationed in the Eastern Region doing
community development work in a
village northeast of Enugu called “Affa”.
The secession movement was just beginning
when I left.
During the time I was in Affa, I met
an Irish Catholic Priest named Father
Desmond McGlade. He lived about
ten miles from me. We became close
friends. After I left, we remained in
communication. When the Biafran war
broke out, I organized a way of collecting
money for the Biafran relief effort in
the community where I worked. Near
the end of the war Father McGlade was
captured, tortured, and then dismissed
from Nigeria. He visited me twice in the
1970’s stopping in for a few days when
he was in flight between Ireland and his
new parish in California. Eventually he
went to PaPua, New Guinea where he
remained until he died in 2002 at the
age of 86!
So, my question for David Koren
was whether or not he had any more
contact with Father Desmond McGlade?
David mentions his name on page 108
of his book. David describes an incident
where a bomb landed near the DC-7 and
sixteen Biafrans were killed with many
injured. Father McGlade was slightly injured
and according to David remained
in Biafra. I know from my visits with
Father McGlade he continued to work
at the airstrip in Uli where the planes
came in nightly with food and medical
supplies.
In closing I want to mention how
the war affected me in my work in Affa.
Several months before I left Nigeria,
Igbo’s were being killed in Northern
Nigeria. Some were from the village
where I served. One very unusual task
assigned to me during that time was to
convey significant sums of compensation
to the families in Affa who lost relatives
in the North. I thought of that as I read
David’s book, especially when he speaks
repeatedly of P.C.V.’s having to be flexible
and capable of taking on all kinds of
assignments.
Like me, David served in Eastern
Nigeria, but as a teacher. Teachers far
outnumbered the few of us who did
community development projects. His
story describes a people and a culture
I too came to love. Like him, I was
tempted to sign up for an additional
year when my time was finished in
June 1966. Interestingly, my Irish Priest
friend, Father McGlade talked me out
of it stressing that in his opinion, after
spending 26 years in Eastern Nigeria, the
coming conflict was going to get really
bad and I ought to leave before being
forced to evacuate.
I give you my permission to publish
this letter if you want but, like I said
earlier, my main intention is to convey
my question to David Koren via FON. I
assume you have his address. Feel free to
edit this letter.
Thanks for your help on this matter
and for the work you do for FON.
James Jablonski (XII) 64-66
Dear Editor,
Thanks to your review in FON, an
Igbo physician practicing in Chicago,
Dr. Ejikeme Obasi, became aware of my
book and invited me attend and speak at
an international conference in Chicago
called Amandigbo, an inter-generational
dialogue on the Igbo Experience. It was
hosted by the college-age Igbo children
of the Biafran survivors, Igbo-Americans
who have never been to Africa and who
wanted to learn something about their
culture and heritage. I prepared a short
report on my experience to be uploaded
to WikiFON, but I was unable to figure
out how to access it.
This is what I had to say:
By invitation I attended a conference
in Chicago July 27-29, 2012 called
“Amandigbo,” a gathering of Igbo people
from around the world. Many were
survivors of the Biafra war, people who
had been the starving children at that
time. A fundamental consequence of the
fact that we had to fly at night and leave
Biafra before dawn to avoid being shot
down by the MIG’s was that the children
who were saved by our relief food never
met those who delivered it. When those
children, now grown, now professionals
like doctors, physicists, professors, and
business people, met me in Chicago, they
cried, repeatedly hugged me and shook
my hand, expressing their gratitude to
the first person they ever met who had
worked on the airlift. They presented me
with an award, an inscribed plaque with
my new Igbo name, Nwannedinamba
(foreign brother-emphasis on “brother”)
and the words, “On Behalf of the Biafran
Genocide Survivors.” On behalf of the
Biafran Airlift flight crews, I accept the
award and the obligation to serve as a
conduit through which the gratitude of
the people can flow to the airmen, living
and dead, who saved a generation of fine
people.
David Koren (09)63-66
Dear Editor:
Steve Vincent has given us vivid,
well-done recollections of his time at
Nsukka immediately before the Biafra
war. They are much appreciated by this
one-time University of Nigeria volunteer
and doubtless many others.
Two comments. The “makings of the
war” surely predate the May 1966 Igbo
pogroms in the North. For instance, in
January 1966 a group of mainly Igbo
officers led Nigeria’s first military coup,
killing the federal prime minister, Alhaji
Sir Abubaker Tafawa Balewa, a North-
(Continued on page 7)
Fall 2012
FON Newsletter 3

Obituaries
John Lanphere Dodge III
(Staff) 62-64
John Lanphere Dodge III passed
away at his home in Mill Valley, CA on
June 23, 2012. John served as Peace
Corps country director in Nigeria and
later in Liberia during the period from
1962 to 1964.
John was born in Orangeburg, New
York on January 6, 1930 and later graduated
from Haverford College where he
was a member of the sailing team and
co-captain of the wrestling team. He
served three years as a Lieutenant (Junior
Grade) on the destroyer USS Hickox and
was a veteran of the Korean conflict.
After graduating from Harvard Business
School in 1957, John moved to San Francisco
and joined Matson Corporation on
the eve of containerization.
John continued to work in transportation
for Matson, Weyerhaeuser, and as
an independent transportation and business
consultant until he and a partner
bought Cal-Cedar Homes and North Bay
Wood in Sebastopol, which John continued
to run until retirement.
John and his surviving spouse, Peg,
loved to travel. Trekking, bicycling, rafting,
sailing, and touring took them all
over the world including China, Nepal,
Bhutan, Peru, India, and Europe. Their
last expedition together was to Antarctica.
He enjoyed driving and working
on classic cars; his 1949 MG TC, “Sir
Cedric”, still resides in the garage in Mill
Valley. John also loved to spend time
with friends and family at their property
in Cloverdale, pruning, trying to get his
old army jeep to run, playing horseshoes,
and sipping cocktails on the sun deck.
John is survived by his wife Peg,
his children Lisa, Elizabeth, and Bill, his
son-in-law Albert Orozco and daughterin-law
Liz O’Brien, and his four grandchildren
Tris Dodge, Anthony Dodge,
Josh Orozco, and Melia Orozco.
[Source: Marin (CA) Independent Journal]
David F. Tiedt (12) 64-67
David F. Tiedt passed away on Sept.
28, 2007 at his home in Alexandria,
VA at the age of 75. As a member of
Nigeria 12, David served as a community
development volunteer in the town of
Ogoja, Nigeria from 1964-67.
David graduated from the University
of Illinois with a degree in architecture
and in 1973 received a master’s degree
in public administration from Syracuse
University. Following his service in
Nigeria, he worked for the U.S. Agency
for International Development for more
than 20 years, with postings in Vietnam,
India, Nepal, the South Pacific and the
Philippines. He worked on development
projects that included trail bridges in the
Himalayas and the construction of hospitals
and schools. He retired about 1989
but continued consulting for the agency
in the South Pacific for several years. After
permanent retirement, he renovated
buildings in Old Town Alexandria, where
he had lived since 1973.
Survivors include his wife, Patricia
Bonifer-Tiedt (13) 64-66 of Alexandria;
two children, Megan Bonifer-Reed of
Alexandria and Andrew David Tiedt of
Alexandria; two brothers; and a sister.
[Source: The Washington Post]
David W. McDowell (03)
61-63
David W. McDowell died on July 29,
2002 in Riverside, CA. As a member of
Nigeria 03, David served as a teacher
from 1961 to 1963 in just the third group
of volunteers to serve in Nigeria. David
was born in Missouri in 1937 and, at the
time of his passing, was residing in Riverside
where he had lived for several years.
Maureen Tinsley Nelson
(Staff Spouse) 61-64
Maureen Tinsley Nelson, wife of former
Peace Corps staff member Charles
J. Nelson (Staff) 61-64, passed away
on July 13, 1999 at the age of 80. Mrs.
Nelson was a retired social worker who
taught at Howard University but formerly
worked as a vocational guidance
counselor in Iran from 1958 to 1960, in
Ethiopia from 1966 to 1968 and developed
a graduate social work program for
the University of the Philippines during
the early 1950s.
Survivors include her husband of
52 years, Charles J. Nelson, the former
U.S. envoy to Botswana, Lesotho and
Swaziland; a son from her first marriage,
Junius Taylor of Nashville; a sister, Tomi
Plummer of Tallahassee; and one granddaughter.
[Source: The Washington Post]
(Minneapolis continued from page 1)
pepper soup, ugba (oil bean), moi-moi
(black-eyed peas), puff-puff (African donut),
egusi soup, vegetable soup, pounded
yam fufu, and palm wine.
Prior to the meal the eldest of the
Nigerian-Americans performed the traditional
kola nut ceremony. Many attendees
were dressed in traditional Nigerian attire.
Particularly moving were the laudatory
remarks and appreciation expressed by the
Nigerian-Americans towards the Peace
Corps in Nigeria – even though nearly
all of them were of a generation not even
born when most PCVs served in Nigeria
in the 1960s. Several Nigerians expressed
interest in forging closer ties to FON, and
readily reviewed and took away past FON
Newsletters. FON members were able to
connect with Nigerians from areas and
towns where they had served in the 1960s,
learning about changes and developments
in those locations.
Lynn Olson (10), Ron Dirkse (11)
4 FON Newsletter Fall 2012

FON News
New FON Board Members Elected
Friends of Nigeria (FON) President,
Mike Goodkind, recently announced the
election of two new members to the FON
board of directors. Voting was conducted
in August 2012 and John Romano and
Lynn Olson were elected unanimously.
In his announcement Goodkind
stated, “Lynn Olson and John Romano
bring a wealth of wisdom, expertise and
hard work to the FON Board, and we
are delighted to include both as directors
as FON moves into new and expanded
activities. Our bylaws offer the opportunity
to bring our board membership to
15, and as the unanimous vote reflects,
your directors jumped at the opportunity
to include John and Lynn among our active
leadership. I think members will agree
heartily that Lynn and John’s experience
within FON and the world at large is
impressive.”
The bylaws stipulate that the two new
members will serve until the next general
meeting in fall 2013, at which time members
will vote on a full slate of officers.
John Romano
John Romano taught math and science
at Ogbomosho Girls High School
from 1964-67. After the completion of his
John Romano in Nigeria.
Peace Corps
service, he
attended
graduate
school in
counseling
and psychology
at Penn
State and
Arizona State
John Romano now
respectively.
He received his Ph.D. from Arizona State
in 1976 and that same year assumed a
teaching position at the University of
Minnesota where he continues to work
today. He has been a faculty member
and has served in several administrative
positions, his most recent as Assistant Vice
President for International Scholarship.
Romano states that his Peace Corps
service was a major influencing factor in
his decision to enter the field of international
psychology. His working career has
had as a major focus teaching, consulting,
and conducting international research in
international psychology.
He served on the FON Board from
1996-2001 and has helped organize FON
events in the Twin Cities in 1999 and
2012 in conjunction with NPCA conferences.
“I look forward to my return to
the FON Board and participating in its
important work,” he stated.
Romano has three adult children all
of whom are currently living in the Twin
Cities and “making important contributions
to the community.” His son, Christopher,
served as a PCV in Nicaragua. He
also has three grandchildren.
Lynn Cloonan Olson
Lynn Olson served as a Peace Corps
volunteer from 1964-66 in what was then
the Western Region of Nigeria. Her first
year was spent teaching in the city of Badagary.
Her second year she spent in Idanre
and Oshogbo teaching French, English,
and history and, according to Olson “doing
whatever else I was asked to do!”
After Nigeria, Olson taught in the
United States and Australia before moving
to and settling in Minnesota where she
continued to teach. After deciding to
attend law school, she switched to social
work which she
did for five years
while attending
law school.
After
practicing law
(primarily
criminal), she
was appointed
Lynn Olson at the
Minneapolis FON Dinner
to the bench in
1982 serving as
a County Court
judge. She was later appointed a District
Court judge and served in that capacity
until 2004. During that time she also
owned and directed a fine arts gallery
which she continued to operate until last
year.
Olson occasionally works now as a
Senior Judge and also travels the world
with her artist husband, Frank. “We have
many friends in the Nigerian community
(some 13,000 in Minnesota) here,” said
Olson and “I am enjoying reconnecting
with Nigerian RPCV’s and working on
FON projects.”
As of May 27, 2012:
VSO Project (since 2004):
Total raised: $42,724
Number of donations: 813
Number of donors: 373
Emily Bullock (UK) 2010-
Keep The Lorry Rolling!
Fantsuam Project (since 2008):
Total raised: $19,831
Number of donations: 343
Number of donors: 207
VSO Blogs
http://www.emily-in-nigeria.blogspot.com/
Fall 2012
FON Newsletter 5

Recollections
Bulo Burte Blues
by Bob Criso (21) 66-67
From the moment the plane landed in
Mogadishu, I was a stranger in a strange
land. I was a lame duck, a refugee from
Nigeria. Evacuated during the Biafran War
with eight months left of my two years, I
was given the option of going to another
country in Africa. I chose Somalia. After
adjusting to the hot and buggy tropics,
I arrived in a dry and sterile desert. Just
when my Igbo had become serviceable,
I had to try to decipher Somali. Ask me
anything about the history of Nigeria and
I might know the answer. But Somalia?
Bob Crisco with teachers at his school in Nigeria.
My first stop was the Peace Corps office
where I overheard a Volunteer yelling,
threatening to kill himself if they didn’t get
him out of “this fucking country” within
twenty four hours. It was jolting. I was
told Somalia had the highest rate of PCV’s
who didn’t finish their two year terms but
this seemed extreme. Later I went to lunch
with a few volunteers who wasted no time
in warning me about the oppressive heat,
the unmotivated students, the chilly reception
I would get from the locals and the
poor food once I left Mogadishu.
“Don’t be surprised if some Egyptian
religious teacher begins waving pictures of
Israeli atrocities at you and starts condemning
America” one jaded Volunteer
warned me. It was August, 1967, not long
after the six day war in the Middle East,
and I was in a Muslim country. I had just
left the Igbos, one of the most pro-American
ethnic groups in Africa.
“And make sure you don’t carry a
camera,” another Volunteer added, “or you
could be picked up by soldiers or police.”
The Soviets were advising the military
at the time; the Chinese were advising
the police. The Americans had a small,
low-profile presence which got bumped
up a notch when the Peace Corps arrived.
It was the cold war, African style. Were we
being used as pawns, I thought?
The setting for this depressing conversation
was, ironically, a kind of paradise.
We were sitting under a leafy trellis in an
outdoor garden restaurant. A soft breeze
from the sea rustled the leaves above us.
Green plants and flowering vines were
sprouting from oversized pots scattered
around the yard. Somali men wearing long
white robes and caps were sipping dark
tea from glass tumblers and talking quietly
amongst themselves.
I had already noticed the simple but
spectacular beauty of Mogadishu itself; a
white city dotted with minarets, spread out
alongside pristine beaches and a sparking
turquoise sea. I was eating lasagna and a
salad that could have been prepared in
Tuscany, a reminder of the former colonizers
in the southern half of the country. The
Somalis themselves were also quite striking.
Many were tall and thin with small,
even features, caramel skin and fine curly
hair. They were among the best looking
people I had seen anywhere.
My assignment was Bulo Burte, a
small town a few hours northwest of Mogadishu.
It was isolated and hardly touched
by the outside world. You got there by
bus or on the back of a truck that ambled
over unpaved roads winding through dry
and dusty brush, a little reminiscent of the
American southwest. Historically, Somalis
were nomads and it was not unusual to
pass a family on the road with their portable
homes folded on the back of a camel
as they searched for the next water hole.
I shared a two room house with Paul,
another Volunteer, and we taught all subjects
at an intermediate school. The language
of instruction was English but the
students’ comprehension level was limited
as was their enthusiasm for learning. We
tried to make the best of it but it was not
a gratifying experience. When classes were
done, there was little to do and nowhere
to go outside of a stroll through town after
dinner when it was cooler or a longer walk
to the Shebelle River.
People were distrustful of foreigners,
especially Americans, so it was hard getting
to know the locals. Most kept to themselves,
especially the women of course,
many of whom were veiled and fearful of
any man’s glance. As predicted, an Egyptian
religious teacher came up to me on
the street one day waving pictures of Israeli
atrocities and condemning America. I let
him rant and then moved on.
The closest acquaintance we had in
town was Mohammed, the man who
owned the café where we had lunch
(samosas and tea) and dinner (low-grade
spaghetti with an oily sauce and goat meat
when available.) It was the same menu
every day, the only change of diet coming
during trips back to Mogadishu and from
whatever supplies we could carry back.
The daily frustrations of life in Bulo Burte
began to take a toll: my weight dropped,
my hair thinned and my spirits tumbled.
The best thing about Bulo Burte was
Bob Crisco now
the nights. The temperature went down
with the sun and the wide sky was flooded
with stars. Sometimes I’d lie on the roof,
look up at the extraordinary panorama and
think about life’s bigger questions while
making plans for my return to the States.
It gave me some perspective and helped
get me through the tougher days. Those
same stars have inspired many generations
of talented Somalis poets, a fact unknown
by most of the world.
The worst part of Bulo Burte was the
loneliness. Paul and I were both ethnic
New Yorkers who were probably not the
coolest kids in our schools so you would
have thought we had a lot in common.
(Continued on page 9)
6 FON Newsletter Fall 2012

A Life Changed Forever: My Peace Corps Memories
By Bob Bennett (07) 63-65
From the moment I looked in
my bathroom mirror in my flat at the
University of Nigieria, Nsukka in 1966
(by then an employee of the university)
and realized that I expected to see a black
‘me’ and not the white one I came to
Nigeria with
as a Peace
Corps Volunteer
(PCV) in
1963 (Nigeria
07), my life
had changed
profoundly
and forever.
Friends
of Nigeria,
each read for
Robert Bennett now
me emotional
(maybe
increasingly emotional), arrived not long
ago at my home in the UK. Once more
I reflected on the ways being a PCV has
impacted on my life. Some of the ways
are briefly stated and are in no particular
order:
(1) I didn’t go to a country outside
the US backed up by weapons that could
kill; I went in Peace. So many students
shared their lives with me; the son of
one of them named after me has recently
been in touch on Facebook. I was able
to send him a photo that his Dad, no
longer alive, had sent me of him as a
baby. All his other family photos had
been destroyed during the Biafran War.
(2) My sexuality was challenged as
living in a different society will often do.
But fantasy was present, not acted on, as
a volunteer but did became more realized
as a university employee. I later partnered
a Nigerian man seeking asylum in
Britain.
(3) I met at Nsukka and later married
a GVSO. She got me to listen to
poetry, not just study it. In retirement I
now organize ‘open mic’ poetry events in
Leicester and am out as a ‘gay, grey poet’
named Bobba Cass.
(4) I realized the significance of my
mother’s extended family upbringing and
its impact on my life when I observed
Nigerian students and their families. I
later recorded and transcribed hundreds
of pages of my mother’s and my cousins’
memories of life in pan-handle Idaho
and working-class Tacoma, Washington
from 1900 to 1940.
(5) Nsukka friendships endure.
The partner of one of my sons is the
daughter of a PCV I knew in Nsukka.
They met in London not knowing their
parents knew each other! Soon they will
have a child. Her father is from Owerri.
(6) Mirror, mirror, on the wall.
This grandchild and the two
of my adopted sons are black.
I am proud that part of my
heritage will be a ‘not white’
future.
(7) I was politically
radicalized by my PCV years.
The moment of reading in a
Nigerian newspaper that the
US ambassador was pressing
for tax exemptions for US firms
when the Nigerian government
was committing so much of its
income to universal primary
education caused me to reflect
on the relative pittance the US
paid for me to be the ‘not ugly’ American
and help educate. It was hardly balanced
against the reduced money Nigeria
would have to spend. And the Nigerian
students asked a lot of questions about
what had happened to Native Americans
Recollections
and why the US was taking up a colonial
struggle in Vietnam.
(8) I only want to be a citizen of
the world. I left ‘Biafra’ as the war was
beginning not far north of Nsukka. No
newspaper coverage described accurately
what I was seeing; no ‘country’ seemed
immediate to the fortunes of people’s
lives. Students of mine from all over
Nigeria gave multiple perspectives on the
conflict. The assassination of JFK four
years before left a huge despondency in
me which I only came to realize as I saw
the light in the eyes of young people in
Chicago at the time of Obama’s acceptance
speech; that light had gone from
mine. Being a PCV gave me the opportunity,
which I took, of never ‘going
home’ again.
Bob Criso, Stephen Vincent,
David Koren and many more - innumerable
reflections to be! I have the letters
Bob Bennett and his University of Nigeria tennis team.
I wrote to my parents while I lived in
Nsukka. They make VERY UNCOM-
FORTABLE READING as I then recall
the Biafran War approaching and how
I, like the people around me, was IN
TURMOIL.
Letters to the Editor
(continued from p.3)
erner; the Northern premier, Sir Amadu
Bello, the Sardauna of Sokoto; and Chief
Akintola, premier of the West.
On a visit to the University in
October 1966, I talked with a number
of Igbos and non-Igbo Easterners. Some
of the Igbos were full of bravado, others
more tempered. The non-Igbos feared
and resented Igbo domination fully as
much as the latter feared and resented
Northern domination.
Grievances, you might say, can be a
two-way street.
George T Eaton (2), 1961-1963
Fall 2012
FON Newsletter 7

Book Reviews
Moral Anguish:
Richard Nixon and the
Challenge of Biafra
by Josh Arinze
Kindle edition, 2011
$5.30 to download
Reviewed by David Strain (07)63-64
We can assume that in 1914 when
Frederick Lugard consolidated the administration
of the Protectorate of Northern
Nigeria with that of Southern Nigeria, he
did not consider what effect consolidation
would have on an independent Nigeria
forty-six years later. If Lugard had done
so, he would have known that the indirect
rule which he is famed for, which he had
instituted successfully in the North, was
directly antithetic to nation building,
locking in place current tribal systems,
and their tribe members (with the British
overlords having to deal only with the
chiefs). “Unity of administration, not of
peoples” is how Lugard put it.
The British particularly favored the
hierarchical Muslim north where sultans
and emirs ruled over broad swaths of
population thanks to Uthman dan Fodio’s
conquests in the early nineteenth century.
Western Nigeria’s Yorubas offered the British
some of the same useful structure, but
the Igbo, decentralized, pagan, and more
democratically organized in the East,
provided no chiefs for the English to deal
with . . . the British tried to create “warrant
chiefs,” a signal failure as the Igbos
saw no reason to pay attention to them.
Adding to these deficiencies the East’s
shorter previous contact with European
outsiders, the British saw the Igbos as the
bottom of the native barrel, primitive and
unprepossessing when compared to their
Hausa Fulani and Yoruba “countrymen.”
How things change. Missionaries
arrived in the South, with mission schools
which the Igbos used to great advantage.
Moreover Igboland was overpopulated, so
there was pressure for Igbos to move out
of their traditional areas. Concurrently the
building of Nigeria’s railroads, harbors,
hospitals, and commercial activities demanded
skilled native workers throughout
the country. But the emirs had persuaded
the British to exclude missionaries (and
their schools) from the North, so the
North could not supply skilled workers
needed there. The overpopulated East
provided them instead. Arinze states that
over a million Igbos lived in the North
at independence, some in the Middle
Belt, but many in the sabon garis of the
large Northern cities. In a generation the
Igbos had risen from a group ridiculed for
its backwardness, to a largely Christian
race viewed as educated, aggressive, and
domineering, whose progress in the North
angered and frightened both the Muslim
establishment and the British who did not
want “large native populations subject to
the will of a small minority of educated
and Europeanized natives.”
Over half of Arinze’s e-book is a
detailed history of the independence
movement, of the post second world
war push by Igbos and Yorubas against
colonial rule, with the Muslim led North
reluctant, fearing domination by the
South. The still-favored North stalled and
was given more time, and, important for
this story, threatened secession if not given
its way. Ahmadu Bello expressed regret
for Britain’s merging of North and South
in 1914, what he called “the mistake of
1914”. Britain, not surprisingly after
the catastrophic separation of India and
Pakistan at independence in 1947, greatly
desired that Nigeria not be divided, and
as a result the secession-threatening North
extracted concessions from the British
assuring Northern dominance after
independence.
After 1960 Northern rulers stepped
up efforts to force Igbos back to the East.
Qualifications for military officers were
lowered to permit more Northern officers.
Officers from the East were court-martialed
if they disciplined northern troops.
When there were organized attacks on
Igbos in the North, Federal troops failed
to protect them. And a plan for Federal
troops to invade and take over Western
Nigeria on January 18, 1967 precipitated
the original coup on January 15, 1967
headed by Major Chukwuma Nzeogwu
(where Balewa, Akintola, and Bello were
assassinated.) General Johnson
Aguiyi-Ironsi, also an Igbo, quelled the
coup leaders, but the handing of leadership
of the country to Ironsi generated in
the North more fears of Igbo domination,
despite Ironsi’s extensive appointment of
Northerners to key positions. In July Ironsi’s
government was overthrown, Ironsi
killed, and a Northerner Yakubu Gowon
installed to head the military government.
Continued attacks on Igbos in the
North and West, where neither the
regional nor the Federal governments
took steps to protect Igbos, led to many
deaths and a massive outflow of Igbos to
the East for safety. Clearly the existing
governments would not or could not protect
Igbo citizens outside of the Eastern
Region. So General Odumegwu Ojukwu,
the Federally appointed governor of the
East, negotiated with General Gowon, opposing
a unitary government for Nigeria,
and hoping to establish something along
the line of the then-existing East African
Federation of Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya.
Gowon agreed (the North had been
again considering complete secession) but
shortly thereafter, Gowon made a volte
face opting for a strong central govern-
(Continued on next page)
8 FON Newsletter Fall 2012

ment and the creation of a number of new
states, much to the dismay of Ojukwu
and the East.
On May 30, 1967 the East seceded,
and on July 7, 1967 the Federal government
attacked the new Biafran Republic,
the war to have as a main feature the
blockade of the East with the death by
starvation of two million Biafrans.
Britain immediately sided with
Nigeria, provided ships and personnel to
enforce the blockade of Biafra, and sold
arms to the Nigerian army. Enter Russia,
hopeful of a foot in the door in West
Africa, with arms and Egyptian-piloted
MIGs which strafed and bombed civilian
markets in Biafra. Britain in a Cold War
response to the Soviets and with American
approval, upped its support for Nigeria.
The United States delegated control to the
British and proclaimed its strict neutrality,
one reason certainly being its huge commitment
to the Vietnam war.
Richard Nixon during the 1968
Presidential campaign expressed moral
concern for the mass starvation which
was being reported in the press. When
he entered office in January 1969 Nixon
tried to overcome the resistance of the
State Department and Secretary Kissinger
who supported the British and were lukewarm
at best to relief of suffering in the
East. Even when Nixon ordered a change
of policy, it did not take place as the State
Department stalled or ignored the President.
Arinze has culled much interesting
information from materials recently
released by the State Department and the
NSA, documenting how State and Kissenger
blocked Nixon’s moral concerns.
Josh Arinze has written a compelling
history justifying Igbo secession and the
creation of Biafra, placing secession in the
context of multiple threats to do so by
the North. Arinze justifies too the acts of
the Nzeogwu coup of January 1966 as a
response to a planned Northern takeover
of the South, a plan prefigured, by the
way, when in 1954 Balewa, opposing
Southerners’ desires for immediate independence,
threatened an extension by the
North of Uthman Dan Fodio’s conquests
“to the sea.”
Through quotes from Western newspapers
Arinze shows what was known in
the West about the Biafra war, and indicts
Britain and the United States for their
support, acquiescence, even complaisance
regarding Nigeria’s use of starvation of
civilians as a tool of war. Moral Anguish
provides a broader historic perspective
for Far Away in the Sky, David Koren’s
fascinating tale of the Biafran airlift
(reviewed in the last issue) and anticipates
Chinua Achebe’s There Was A Country to
be released in October.
Although moral concern about starvation
was the reason for Nixon’s efforts,
Moral Anguish is also a telling reflection
on the unintended consequences of the
Berlin Conference of 1884, the scramble
for Africa, the thoughtless assemblage of
disparate African groups into a colony
with culturally negligent boundaries, a
colony whose administration placed no
real emphasis on integrating these disparate
groups into a nation.
Bulo Burte Blues
(continued from p.6)
We didn’t. We bonded anyway but more
in a kind of a survival mode rather than
friendship. Once in a while he went off on
a weekend to see one of his friends but he
preferred to go alone. Our only visitor was
an occasional drop-in from Mike, a Volunteer
working on an agricultural project
about an hour or two away. He was one of
those golden boys from California whose
good looks, worldly savvy and fearless
confidence were not only impressive but
intimidating.
Although I got to know some of the
other Volunteers when I went to Mogadishu,
all of my connections in Somalia
felt superficial and never filled a lingering
emptiness. I felt like a foster child who
had been given a temporary home but
who was never really part of the family.
I longed for the closeness that I felt with
friends from my training group and the
locals in my Nigerian village. I fell into a
depression that was part displaced person,
part mourning for the losses of Nigeria
Fall 2012
and probably part long-term baggage that
I brought with me from home. I kept it to
myself, put on a good face and crossed off
the days until my eight months were over.
When I finally flew out of Mogadishu,
I felt like a marathon runner staggering
across the finish line. Now it was time
to go home and start the reconstruction
project. It wasn’t going to be easy: Viet
Nam was escalating and I had a 1A from
my local draft board, Martin Luther King
had been shot and parts of Newark and
Detroit had burned down in race riots. It
was the spring of 1968 and America was
changing even faster than I was.
Addendum:
Here’s an excerpt from a poem written
by Ahmed Knowmedic. I like it because
you don’t expect to find this kind of
romantic lyricism coming from a people
best known for piracy, kidnapping, wars,
radical militants, fierce clan rivalries and
bloody battles over a waterhole but I think
it’s a unique insight into their lesser know
side.
Uncharted Love
Come close,
let me read your life story
with my lips.
hold you
close for a few hours
So you can fill me with your soul
and leave me overflowing with purity,
write on the walls
of my heart
as a reminder that you indeed
were here,
and that it was real.
So that generations to come
can see the art the Queen who ruled
my heart
like her kingdom left behind.
I want to travel along your smile,
engage conversations
like holy matrimony
and support every dream
your mind gives birth to
Massage you into my life,
pick you like a rose
and plant you in my soul
FON Newsletter 9

DIMENSIONAL BRAND STRATEGY AND EXECUTION
WWW.ARTHOUSEPRINT.COM
FON News
An FON T-Shirt for Christmas? A Fabulous Idea!
by Lynn Olson 10)64-66
I go to my mailbox each day hoping
to hear from some of you about ordering
these fabulous (if I do say so myself!) T-
shirts. I have received compliments from
everyone who has bought them, including
my husband! Remember this is a
fundraiser for FON, so buy for yourself,
for your partner, for your kids, for your
grandkids....we have all sizes. They were
produced by a local, very small company
(three employees) and the artist did
not charge us for any of her work. The
T-shirts are from an environmentally
safe company and are made of 100%
spun organic cotton. REMEMBER: the
holidays are coming before you know
it. T-shirts are always great gifts!
FON T-SHIRT ORDER FORM
NAME: ____________________________________________________
ADDRESS:__________________________________________________
STREET: ___________________________________________________
CITY / STATE / ZIP:_________________________________________
PHONE: __________________________________________________
EMAIL:____________________________________________________
T-shirt Prices
TOTAL $
☐ X-Large, Large…$23 SIZE___ number____ ___________
☐ Medium, Small…$20 SIZE___ number____ ___________
☐ Youth
Small, X-small……$15 SIZE__ number_____ ___________
☐ Shipping Charge $5.15
TOTAL______________________
ARTHOUSE
Mail order form and either check or money order
only to:
Project: Friends of Nigeria
Garment: Gildan short sleeve tee in Old Gold
Print: 2c front / 1c back
APPAREL & MERCHANDISE
Lynn Olson: 1228 2nd St.
NE, Minneapolis, MN 55413-1130
(Checks should be made out to FON and should
include cost of merchandise plus $5.15 for shipping/
handling for each order.)
Cindy Koppelman • cindy@arthouseprint.com • direct (612)321-0950 x.221
10 FON Newsletter Fall 2012

A Reverse Peace Corps?
Sometimes referred to as a “reverse
Peace Corps” because nonprofit leaders from
around the world are recruited to serve in
the U.S., Atlas Corps has supported 130
Fellows from 35 different countries including
ten from Nigeria. In the following
article Gbenga Ogunjimi relates some of his
experience from his recent service with Atlas
Corps. To learn more about Atlas Corps, we
encourage you to visit www.atlascorps.org
or email info@atlascorps.org to get involved
as a nominator of candidates or volunteer
in their work.
A Nigerian Volunteers in
Washington, DC.
by Gbenga Ogunjimi (Nigeria),
Atlas Corps Fellow
Fall 2012
A wise man told me, “Ideas and
talent are evenly distributed around the
world but opportunities are not.” This
man was Scott Beale. Six years ago, Scott
put vision into action and established
Atlas Corps, a “reverse Peace Corps”
that engages talented international professionals
with the opportunity to serve
for 12 to 18 months in dynamic organizations
in the United States. For me, an
emerging professional from Nigeria, Atlas
Corps offered me the means to share
my skills with a world of possibility.
Who am I, you may ask. I am a social
entrepreneur. I know the power of vision
combined with passion. I am also
Nigerian. I feel the pride of my country
while I also endure the adversaries that
seek to discourage talent and ideas from
coming into fruition. It is a dichotomy
that is a daily balance between belief
in the possible and struggle against the
negative. I remain committed to my personal
vision - to create an international
exchange program for African youth.
However, I needed additional training
and a larger network to be able to pursue
my dream.
Then, in March 2011, I became an
Atlas Corps Fellow. It was the moment
when my vision met opportunity and inspiration
sparked - a sort of professional
liberation that enabled me to emerge
from the societal “boundaries” that I experienced
at home. It was a pivotal step
to make my vision a reality. Currently,
I serve in the Atlas Corps office as a
Training Manager who oversees the Atlas
Corps Nonprofit Management Series. Every
day, I share my Nigerian perspective to a
global audience of Atlas Corps Fellows
(more than 130 leaders from 35 countries)
AND thousands of individuals that
I interact with face-to-face and through
virtual media.
Most recently, I led a workshop in
Washington, DC on using the social
media platform, LinkedIn, to enhance
organizational and professional goals.
It was a record-breaking audience for
the DC Foundation center – all of them
there to learn from me, a Nigerian social
entrepreneur. What an honor and testament
to the power of global exchange!
In addition, throughout my 12 months
as an Atlas Corps Fellow, I have had conversations
with the Director of the Peace
Corps, Aaron Williams; the President of
United Way Worldwide, Brian Gallagher;
and numerous other international
thought leaders. These opportunities
presented themselves to me because of
global exchange, being an Atlas Corps
Fellow. I shared my talent and I enhanced
my skills to be a more effective
leader both at home and abroad.
Now, as I near the end of my Fellowship,
I am excited to return to Nigeria.
I bring with me renewed energy and
enthusiasm to inspire others. I also bring
a global network of individuals who
know, firsthand, the power of international
service. I also have an organization,
Landmark International, that puts
my vision into action with an international
exchange program to engage
African youth. Atlas Corps provided this
opportunity. Now, I want to give others
the opportunity to apply their talents to
inspire positive impact.
FON Newsletter 11

Nigeria News
Edited by Virginia DeLancey (04) 62-64
Security is Tightened around
Embassies in Nigeria
The Nigerian Federal Government
issued a nationwide security alert to
forestall violence and increased security
around all embassies and foreign
missions in Nigeria in the wake of the
killing of the U.S. Ambassador to Libya
and three other diplomats. The action
was meant to prevent spillover of the
protests in North Africa which occurred
in response to the recent movie that disrespected
the Prophet Mohammed and
deeply offended Muslims. The Inspector
General of Police directed all Assistant
Inspectors General (AIG) of Police in
charge of zonal commands, as well as
state Commissioners of Police, to provide
tight 24-hour security in and around the
missions. In addition, directives were
given to the AIG in charge of Intelligence
and Commissioners in charge
of the various Police Special Squads to
insure that their personnel were strategically
deployed to prevent potential
crises. Those units included the Counter
Terrorism Unit, Police Mobile Force, and
Special Protection Unit.
About 50 protesters gathered in Jos,
displaying posters that said “To Hell
with America and Israel for insulting
the Prophet.” The leader of the protest
maintained that it was a peaceful protest,
intending no harm to life or property.
However, less than an hour after the
demonstration began, a detachment of
Special Task Force personnel arrived in a
Hilux van. They cautioned the protestors
against proceeding without permission,
saying that they would not be able to
guarantee their safety.
There were also street demonstrations
in Katsina and Sokoto states. In Katsina,
the protesters began their procession in
the early hours of Friday, September 14,
marching through major streets within
the state capital. Personnel in the Deputy
Police Public Relation Office said that
police were aware of the demonstration
and that it was peaceful. In Sokoto,
several demonstrations brought hundreds
to the streets, as protesters burned a
U.S. flag. There were fears of protests
in Kaduna and Kano, as well. (Sources:
Daily Trust [Abuja/Jos/Katsina], 9/13/12,
9/15/12; Leadership [Abuja], 9/12/12;
This Day, 9/13/12, 9/15/12).
Boko Haram Targets Cell Phone
Towers
Boko Haram attacked at least 24 cell
phone towers across northern Nigeria on
September 6, affecting at least nine mobile
phone companies. This was the first
such attack, although the militant group
had threatened such attacks earlier, accusing
the mobile phone firms of helping
security agencies to monitor its members.
Experts say the damage could run into
millions of dollars. Gunshots and explosions
were heard, and fires raged, as the
cell phone towers were attacked in Kano,
Maiduguri, Gombe, Bauchi, and Potsikum.
By the next day, Nigeria’s police
chief had ordered 24-hour surveillance of
all telecom installations. (Sources: BBC
News, Africa, 6/9/12, 7/9/12).
Government Clashes with Boko
Haram, but Initiates Peace Talks
The Nigerian army says that it killed
seven suspected members of Boko Haram
after they opened fire on a military
checkpoint in Maiduguri where soldiers
were conducting a cordon-and-search
operation. The army arrested 13 others,
while the rest fled.
Operatives in the Joint Task Force
(JTF) in Borno State also arrested 11
suspected members of Boko Haram in
an overnight raid on September 13 in the
Waika-Biu region. The spokesman for
the JTF said that the weapons recovered
included a sub-machine gun, seven AK-
47s, 1,568 rounds of ammunition, 12
empty shells, and 19 home-made bombs.
Several days later, on September 17,
Nigerian soldiers reported that troops
killed a man suspected of being Boko
Haram spokesman Abul Qaqa and
arrested two of his field commanders.
However, there has been no confirmation
by Boko Haram. On September
20, the JTF announced that it had also
killed two suspected commanders of
Boko Haram in Maiduguri who were
coordinating activities in Mubi and
Yobe in Adamawa and Yobe States. The
suspects were on their way to Damaturu,
the capital of Yobe State, for a planned
special operation to attack civilians and
military locations.
The military continued its assault on
Boko Haram on September 24, moving
two battalions to Damaturu and Potsikum.
It killed 35 members of Boko Haram
and arrested several others during an
overnight gun battle in Damaturu. The
next day, security agents killed another
top suspected member of Boko Haram,
believed to be Abubakar Yola, alias Abu
Jihad, and arrested 156 others in Mubi.
Four of the 156 are suspected to be top
unit commanders involved in the recent
bombings of cell phone towers in the
Northeast. The security agents also rescued
five women and six children from
a house suspected of having been used
by Boko Haram as its main ammunition
dump. The hideout held over 300 improvised
explosive devices already primed for
detonation, 25 assorted brands of rifles,
mostly brand new AK 47 submachine
guns, and over 2,000 daggers, swords,
bows and poisoned arrows, as well as a
huge quantity of bomb-making devices
which were stored in a large compound
at Shagari Low Cost Housing, Mubi.
The military crackdown appears to
have weakened Boko Haram which has
not reproduced the large-scale, coordinated
attacks they carried out earlier
in the year. But, almost daily shootings
and bombings blamed on them have
occurred. For example, on September
23, a suicide bomber attacked St. John’s
Catholic Church in Bauchi, killing two
and injuring 46. The previous Sunday,
unknown gunmen killed nine people
in Zango Village, and another gunman
killed the ex-Comptroller General of
Prisons and his orderly after they came
out of a mosque.
While the attacks continue, the government
says that it has started informal
talks with Boko Haram to try to end the
deadly attacks. Although the main faction
of Boko Haram has ruled out peace
talks, a presidential spokesman has said
that the dialogue is through “backroom
12 FON Newsletter Fall 2012

Nigeria News
channels” with at least some members,
to try to understand what the grievances
are and what can be done to resolve the
crises. Some believe that from a social
perspective the mostly Muslim northern
states need development and jobs to
eliminate the threat. An earlier attempt
at peace talks collapsed quickly. (Source:
BBC News, Africa, 8/26/12, 9/8/12;
Daily Trust, 9/23/12; Leadership [Abuja],
9/23/12; This Day, 9/13/12, 9/21/12,
9/23/12, 9/25/12; VOA News, 9/14/12,
9/25/12; YAHOO! News (Reuters),
9/24/12).
Nobel Laureate Calls for Armed
Intervention
On the International Day of Peace,
Nobel Prize winner Wole Soyinka visited
the United Nations and called for armed
intervention against Boko Haram in
Nigeria. “This is a violent organization,”
said Soyinka. “What do you do
with them? I am sorry, but you must
fight them. We have a contradiction,”
he acknowledged. “How do we get rid
of Boko Haram? Violence must become
involved. That is a dilemma.” Yet, it was
pointed out that, as stipulated in the
1999 Declaration and Programme of
Action on Culture of Peace, the United
Nations’ primary goal is to “create and
maintain world peace through economic,
social and political agreements, and in
the worst cases through military intervention.”
(Source: IPS, Inter Press Service,
9/24/12)/
Air Nigeria Ends International
Flights
The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority
declared Air Nigeria insolvent
and suspended its operations in June,
causing the layoff of 800 staff; however,
analysts say that the airline might be able
to return to the air if it can resolve debt
problems. Investors have struggled with
$250 million of debt from the purchase
of Virgin Nigeria two years ago, as well
as approximately $373 million of Virgin
Nigeria debt.
Nigeria’s billionaire businessman
Barrister Jimoh Ibrahim, chairman of
NICON Group, initially purchased
NICON Airways, which has since gone
out of business. When he purchased
Virgin Nigeria and formed Air Nigeria,
he promised to merge NICON Airways
with it, but he never did.
Air Nigeria’s debts include unpaid
taxes to the Federal Inland Revenue, four
months arrears of staff salaries and pension
remittances. Moreover, the former
Executive Director for Finance, Air Nigeria,
alleged that the planes in the fleet
were not properly maintained, noting
that of the 11 aircraft, only one was safe
to fly. He maintained that the company
did not have the money to repair all of
the planes, which supposedly explained
why Air Nigeria never operated more
than six of them. Some of the engineers
also alleged that they were being forced
to release unserviceable aircraft to fly.
They claimed that of the 11 aircraft, only
seven were serviceable, but that rather
than sending them for maintenance,
management pressured the head of maintenance
to operate the aircraft.
While dealing with the license suspension,
Air Nigeria lessors, GE Capital
Aviation Service (GECAS) recalled four
of its aircraft. Air Nigeria had been paying
$181,000 monthly to GECAS until
the repossession.
The demise of Air Nigeria leaves
Nigeria with only four domestic airlines
operating scheduled flights. However,
Nigeria’s government is considering a
strategy to create another national airline.
(Sources: BBC News, Africa, 9/10/12;
Daily Trust [Lagos], 9/16/12).
Arik Air Suspends, then
Reinstates Domestic Operations
One of Nigeria’s most important
airlines, Arik Air, suspended domestic
operations across the country on September
21, alleging “persistent hostility
of the Ministry of Aviation and Federal
Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN)
management.” However, earlier reports
claimed that the airline’s operations were
shut down by the FAAN for an N18
billion ($112 million) debt of the airline
to the aviation authority. The airline
maintains that the amount is incorrect
and that it owed the FAAN and the
Ministry of Aviation N1.6 billion ($10
million) before the commencement of
“Pay-As-You-Go”.
The suspension of operations left
many passengers stranded across the
country, especially in Lagos, Abuja,
Kano, and Port Harcourt where 30
scheduled flights were cancelled. After
a reconciliation meeting of all parties,
Arik Air resumed flights on September
23 while the management of the airline
agreed to continue negotiations in order
to settle all of its outstanding indebtedness.
(Sources: Daily Trust, 9/21/12;
Leadership [Abuja], 9/21/12; This Day,
9/21/12; Vanguard, 9/23/12).
Nigeria will Partner with U.S. Firm
to Build Oil Refineries
Nigeria announced a $4.5 billion
deal to partner with the U.S. firm Vulcan
Petroleum Resources to build six oil refineries.
The goal is to build the first two
facilities within one year and complete all
six within the next 30 months. The refineries
will be built in different locations
throughout the country.
Nigeria produces more crude oil than
any other nation on the continent and
exports more than two million barrels of
crude oil a day. However, it relies heavily
on oil that is refined abroad in order to
meet domestic energy demands. The
current refineries in Nigeria produce
400,000 barrels of oil a day, and the new
refineries will add an additional 180,000
barrels a day. (Source: VOA, 7/2/12).
The U.S. Will Invest $6 Billion in
Nigeria’s Agricultural Sector
Foreign investors from the U.S. will
invest $6 billion in Nigeria’s agricultural
sector. Signing a Memorandum of
Understanding with the Tony Elumelu
Foundation on agriculture, the Minister
of Agriculture and Water Resources
said that the funds would be invested in
sugarcane production in the north and in
cassava production in the southern part
of the country. There will be two plants
in the north with about 100,000 hectares
for each of the sugarcane plantations and
there will be about 70,000 hectares for
cassava in the south. The Foundation will
Fall 2012
FON Newsletter 13

Nigeria News
also provide an investment advisor for
the Ministry in order to build capacity
to engage domestic and foreign direct
investors.
Founder of the Foundation and former
CEO of the United Bank for Africa,
Tony Elumelu said that the foundation,
which is based in Nigeria, will conduct
a study on failed agriculture projects in
the country, so that the information will
be available to Nigerian private investors
and foreign direct investors who seek to
invest in agriculture. He also said that
the Foundation had just signed a Memorandum
of Understanding with a foreign
investor to set up a fertilizer plant in the
country, in the public domain, as part of
the foundation’s contribution to increasing
agricultural production in Nigeria.
(Source: Daily Trust, 9/21/12).
Nigeria Receives Loan from China
for Rail, Airport, and ICT Projects
The federal government has signed
an agreement with the China Exim Bank
for two high-priority, high-impact projects
to be completed by 2015. The Abuja
Light Rail project, which is 25 percent
completed, will cost $500 million. It is
expected to improve transportation for
all residents, especially the working class
who have to travel long distances from
their homes on the outskirts to places of
work in the city. One part of the network
will also extend from the city center to
Kubwa and the Nnamdi Azikiwe International
Airport, while the second would
run from the city center to Masaka in
Nassarawa State, both high-density, hightraffic
routes.
The Galaxy Backbone ICT infrastructure,
which will cost $100 million,
should be important for education and
health, while empowering youths with
better connectivity to the rest of the
world.
The government also received the
commitment from the Chinese bank to
finance a third project, the construction
of four new, state-of-the-art air terminals
in Abuja, Kano, Port Harcourt, and Enugu.
The agreement, for $500 million,
is to be signed shortly. The terminals
could help Nigeria achieve the status of
a hub on the continent, grow passenger
capacity to over 50 million from the current
20 million, and greatly increase the
number of jobs in the sector.
Some Nigerians have expressed
skepticism about the loan, however. They
say that it might just buy opportunities
for Chinese businesses from corrupt
Nigerian officials. They also say that
Nigeria has been getting loans to build
the transport sector for years, but nothing
has happened. Some fear that it will
allow China to deepen its presence in
Nigeria with the intent of extracting raw
materials while selling goods in the marketplace.
(Sources: Leadership [Abuja],
9/13/12; VOA News, 9/19/12).
1,000 Nigerian Women are
Detained in Saudi Arabia
About 400 female pilgrims who
traveled from Nigeria to Jeddah, Saudi
Arabia on May 23 to participate in this
year’s hajj were separated from their
male counterparts and detained by Saudi
authorities. The Saudis demanded to see
each female pilgrim’s muharram, the approved
male companion accompanying
her on the trip, usually a husband, father,
or brother. When they were unable to
produce one, the Saudis detained them
and threatened to deport them back
to Nigeria on the next hajj plane. The
nearly 400 women were only allowed to
be supplied water and food by the Saudis
after efforts made by the Nigerian consul
in Jeddah and the Minister of State for
Foreign Affairs. It was reported that the
women had been sleeping on the floor
for three days and sharing four toilets.
Following the initial 400 female pilgrims,
600 more arrived on five flights from
Katsina, Kano, and Zamfara states and
were also detained at the airport upon
arrival when they could not produce
individual muharram.
Sultan Muhammadu Sa’ad, the
Amirul Hajj in Sokoto, condemned the
Saudi action and described it as an insult
to Nigeria and its millions of Muslims.
He said that in the many meetings with
the Saudis to prepare for this hajj, they
never demanded that female pilgrims
must have a muharram, and they issued
visas to the women. He then said that
he had ordered the Nigerian pilgrims
not to walk voluntarily into planes to be
deported.
The National Hajj Commission
of Nigeria’s Commissioner of Operations
also said that it is not true that the
pilgrims could not produce muharram.
He said that the State Muslim Pilgrims
Welfare Boards qualify and identify as
muharram of female pilgrims and that
that has been the case for many decades.
(Source: Daily Trust, 9/26/12; This Day,
9/25/12).
Pirates are an Increasing Threat in
the Gulf of Guinea
Nigeria’s navy rescued a Singaporeowned
oil tanker hijacked by pirates on
September 4 with 23 Indian sailors on
board. The navy sent two ships and a
helicopter to the area, but no shots were
fired. The pirates fled, and the ship was
escorted into the port of Lagos. In contrast
to piracy off the coast of Somalia
where hostages are held for ransom, in
the Gulf of Guinea, the armed gangs are
after the cargo which is swiftly offloaded.
Last year, Nigeria and Benin began
joint naval patrols in an effort to combat
the threat of pirates. Nevertheless, a
total of 40 attacks have been reported
this year, and in August, there were two
hijackings along the coast near Togo.
In both instances, oil was siphoned off
before the vessels and crew were released.
(Sources: BBC News [Lagos], 9/5/12,
9/11/12).
EaZy Money Comes to Nigeria
Zenith Bank and Visafone Communications
Ltd. have launched a product
called EaZy Money, as they seek a leading
role in the cashless society being developed
by the Central Bank of Nigeria.
Zenith Bank believes that EaZy Money
will allow inclusion of the unbanked
segment of the economy. The Chief
Operations Officer of the bank assured
customers of the security of the network,
stating that the platform is deployed on
UTK (User Identify Module Tool Kit
for CDMA networks), one of the most
advanced and secured global smart card
14 FON Newsletter Fall 2012

Nigeria News
technologies for use of the mobile phone
as a banking tool for both the banked
and the unbanked. (Source: This Day,
9/13/12).
Nigeria Needs 1.3 Million Teachers
and 20 Years to Eliminate Teacher
Shortage
Nigeria needs 1,320,135 teachers to
meet the demands of basic education by
2015 according to the Executive Director
of National Commission for Colleges of
Education. This means that the country
must produce 330,033 teachers every
year in order to achieve the Education for
All goal by 2015. At the current production
capacity of 64,000 teachers per annum,
it would take 20 years for Nigeria
to produce the required number of
teachers. (Sources: Daily Trust, 9/13/12;
Leadership [Abuja], 9/13/12).
Lagos State will Introduce
Mandarin Language in Schools
The Lagos State Commissioner of
Education announced that she intends to
introduce Mandarin language in the public
school curriculum in the next session. She
made the announcement following a meeting
with a delegation from the Chinese
Confucius Institute, University of Lagos.
The Director of the Institute said that
the institution is ready to assist the state
with the logistics and that it is prepared to
provide Chinese instructors to teach the
language and culture in the state’s public
schools. (Source: Vanguard, 9/10/12).
Nigerian Science Teachers to
Volunteer in Zanzibar
The Zanzibar Ministry of Education
and Vocational Training will receive 15
science teachers from Nigeria to help
improve education. The teachers will
volunteer for two years, without salaries.
The Zanzibar government will provide
accommodation, transport, and health
services. The relationship between Zanzibar
and Nigeria has existed for decades.
(Source: Tanzania Daily News [Dar es
Salaam], 9/13/12).
“Lucky Boy” Seeks World Title
Nigerian prize fighter Wale “Lucky
Boy” Omotoso was unbeaten, as of the
middle of September, after defeating
Puerto Rico’s Daniel Sostre in Las Vegas,
Nevada. He is seeking a welterweight
world title. His rise in the rankings is being
watched by the Hall of Fame trainer
Freddie Roach. The fighter believes that
he is lucky to have Roach as his trainer
and that he is lucky to be based in the
Los Angeles area after what he calls a
challenging, violent, and dangerous
childhood in Lagos where he learned to
fight as a member of a street gang. He
says that, as a boy, he saw people shot
and he learned to run zigzag to avoid
bullets. (Source: VOA News, 9/17/12).
President Jonathan Confers
National Honors on Paralympians
The Abuja-based group Conscience
Nigeria urged President Goodluck
Jonathan to confer national honor on the
athletes who won medals for Nigeria at
the just-concluded London Paralympic
Games. President Jonathan responded
and directed all cabinet members to
attend the reception at the Presidential
Villa for the Team Nigeria Special Athletes
and also for the Falconets who came
in 4 th in the recently concluded FIFA
U-20 Women’s Championship in Japan.
The News Agency of Nigeria reported
that at the London Games, the
special athletes won a total of 13 medals,
comprising six gold, five silver, and two
bronze. Overall, Nigeria finished in 22 nd
position in the world and in third position
in Africa behind Tunisia and South
Africa. It was noted that their ablebodied
counterparts did not win a single
medal at the main Olympic Games in
London. (Source: Daily Trust, 9/13/12;
Leadership [Abuja], 9/12/12).
First Lady Patience Jonathan
Convalesces in Germany
First Lady Patience Jonathan was
admitted recently to a hospital in Wiesbaden,
Germany. The Presidency initially
maintained that she had traveled to Germany
to rest. Later information revealed
that she had been admitted to a hospital,
but the reason was not clear although
hospital records indicate that she had
been initially treated for food poisoning
in Nigeria. Some accounts suggested
that the food poisoning occurred in
Dubai, but officials there said that they
knew nothing about such an occurrence.
Later information said that she had been
operated on for a ruptured appendix as a
result of food poisoning. Yet, a consultant
with Mrs. Johnson said that the
cause of her ailment was that she had
undergone some intestinal operations to
keep her stomach firm, a process which
led to a ruptured stomach and poisoning.
It seems to be unclear exactly why she
was admitted to the hospital in Germany,
but it is clear that it was for a serious
procedure. (Sources: Leadership [Abuja],
9/19/12; Vanguard [Abuja], 9/16/12).
Nigerian Invents Low-Cost Tablet
Computer
Saheed Adepoju, a 29-year-old entrepreneur
has developed the Inye, a tablet
computer designed for the African market.
The key selling point is the low price
of $350 which he believes will provide
a large market in Nigeria and elsewhere
in Africa, particularly among students.
He also hopes to sell it to the Nigerian
government, with the hope of having at
least one computer in each local government
area.
The Inye (which means “One” in
the Igala language), runs on the Android
operating system. It is an 8-inch device,
half-way between a mobile phone and
a laptop that provides access to the internet
and also allows one to play media
files and watch movies. It includes the
standard software, but it can also add
applications of local developers.
Mr. Adepoju is a Sun-certified Java
programmer. He earned a first degree in
math and computer science in Nigeria
and completed another in advanced
computing by research at Bournemouth
University in the U.K. He returned to
Nigeria in 2009 to begin working for
a consulting firm. However, when the
Apple iPad was launched, he was inspired
to try to build such a product for the
African market place. After feedback
from the first users, he launched a second
version in May 2011. (Source: BBC
News, 7/20/12).
Fall 2012
FON Newsletter 15

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