Third term shenanigans,Big Brother Nigeria, changing spots of the US leopard and Lagos at the South Bank Centre

Can't believe it's been nearly two weeks since I've been on here- day job pressures have meant that I have hardly had time for myself, let alone blog. And yet so much has happened and continues to happen......

In Nigeria, the third term shenanigans continue apace, the latest development being the recent passing by voice vote of the proposed constitutional amendments by the infamous Mantu committee of the National Assembly......on a different front, Big Brother Nigeria has opened with the various housemates vying for a 100 000 dollar prize. I've never understood the fascination with Big Brother, having not watched any of the series shown in the UK since I arrived here. I tried once, but sitting for ten minutes watching a group of people lying on sunloungers and not saying or doing very much soon had me bored out of my skull. It's interesting how here, although everyone condemns the show as mindnumbingly dull and voyeuristic, you can't avoid the hype- in the newspapers (and not just the tabloids), on the radio, everywhere you go, people keep talking about it, and so whether you watch it or not, you get sucked into the drama. Perhaps, the good thing about Big Brother Nigeria might be that it might provide some of the anthropological insights into contemporary Nigerian youth culture which sadly aren't really being documente elsewhere. Sex has always played a big role in Big Brother and so it will be interesting to see what happens in the Nigeria house and how the self-avowedly religious Nigerian public will react.......

A few days ago I had to go to the US Embassy to get a visa as I should be travelling there for work in a few weeks. The last time I had been there was in 2003 and much had changed- for the better. The staff were more humane, the time spent queuing outside in the cold had been reduced, free tea and coffee were on offer as well as a sandwich bar and more toilets. While I was having my index finger prints taken, I placed my finger on the wrong slot and was almost shocked when the officer gently asked me "Please, sir could you move your finger upwards?" In 2003, one tended to be barked at in quasi-military tones. Could it possibly be that the anti-American sentiment sweeping the world has wrought these changes? Who says all hope is lost.......Now I'll have to wait and see how the Homeland Security treat me when I actually arrive there in a few weeks, as an unimpressed English friend argues that my positive experience is probably as a result of the London Embassy staff absorbing European courtesy...... I refrained from retorting that my encounters with the British Home Office and immigration haven't exactly been marked with courtesy, barring the few occasions when I flew business class (courtesy of an upgrade) and was then whisked through the fast-track channel and treated with great courtesy....amazing the things money can buy.......

The South Bank Centre in London has two Lagos events coming up soon as part of the London African Music Festival- the Lagos Massive contemporary revue show on the 25th of March http://www.rfh.org.uk/main/series/52.html
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/africaonyourstreet/event.shtml?eid=232621
and Gbenga Adelaja's Lagos City Orchestra and Queen Salawa Abeni on the 28th of May......