I'm Back!
on Sabo -Oke (Nigeria), 09/Sep/2011 08:23, 34 days ago
I am now back in the saddle, having spent the past month in the UK, mainly to attend our daughter's wedding, which was a grest success.The expected emotional turmoil accompanied us all the way back to Ilorin but our arrival was greeted with such warmth from friends, neighbours and colleagues - I think they were surprised to see us again after recent events.One of our first jobs was to sweep up the carcasses of cockroaches that had been enjoying rent-free accommodation during our absence. There were enough of them to stock a Heston Blumenthal restaurant for weeks.Odd thing about cockroaches - at least, the ones I find - we don't often see them alive - just dead or dying on the floor - usually when we return from work. Why is this, I wonder? Can our aerosol sprays been so efficacious after weeks away? And why are they always on their backs? Are they just crap at clinging onto ceilings? Is it something they ate - the remains of the candle-lit meal I cooked the night before - understandable!Or are they suicide cockroaches, invading the premises of the business community and western educationalists in broad daylight, just to make a point and remind us they are still around. They never seem to have a recruitment problem but their fate is always the same - probably drugged up to the eyeballs!  Those that dare crawl out of their holes induce instant revulsion - even the thought of their scuttling and flitting menacingly about, locals and the wider population alike find repulsive. They take advantage of our structures to arrogantly try and impose their lifestyle on ours, against the majority will, while we wonder from which crack or orifice they will emerge next and which room they will target.My advice is to ensure you are ever watchful and keep a broom and a spray can within reach!Anyway, back to our return.Our guards now have a shelter within the compound, which makes us feel better about their working conditions. There are also vigilante groups patrolling the neighbourhood from midnight onwards, following a spate of burglaries in the area - including ours. On the one hand it makes us feel we are in a bad area, but on the other it reassures us that miscreants are likely to be scared off by their presence. They certainly make themselves heard! For the past three nights they seem to have been out on a rota basis and in pairs at least - each pair has its own signature warning which is loudly announced to the neighbourhood throughout the early hours.  One group has referee whistles - I know Nigerians love their football but I am fairly sure there are no matches on at this time of night - the floodlighting is so poor for a start! Another group howl like wolves - they are not that good at it - you can tell they are not really wolves and any wolfaphobes would not be fooled! Other make scary noises that you might have heard coming from aliens in an episode of Doctor Who. Either way, ones sleep is somewhat disturbed - almost to the point that you might as well get up and practise you house breaking skills!