Uyo, Nigeria, Itu and the bridge

 July 9 & 10, 2021 was spent training our AAAs in part of Nigeria.  These guys are managed by my friend Godwin Udofia, a severely dedicated soul who is retired and now farming with his wife and younger children on about 12 hectares of property in several parcels near his home.  He is a hard worker, physical and mental, and does his hardest and best at everything he takes on.  His English is difficult for me to understand, but his dedication to the gospel is easy for all to see.

Here is a photo outside our hotel in Uyo, Nigeria (pronounced "ooyoo").

And one of me and Godwin with the hotel in the background.

Uyo is more rural than the I had expected.  Nigeria has some huge cities.  Like Lagos for example with an approximate population of 17 million.  Lagos is in the western part.  Uyo is out east and has a population of maybe 500k, but it must be spread out as we didn't experience heavy traffic or miles of street shops and people everywhere.  It seems more advanced and orderly than the other countries we have visited.  The roads are generally better here than in Ghana.  Although the road out to Itu had a stretch with plenty of pot holes and washed out sections.

A few random photos of the city, and the country side, and a small town in Itu state where the bridge spans the Cross River and people live off the river.

The countryside near Uyo.  They must get a lot of rain because it is beautiful.

These two young boys were outside the hotel on Saturday out gathering "junk" in their big sacks.  Godwin told them should be in school until I told him was Saturday and he was okay with it.  Not too talkative, but entrepreneurial. 

These tricycle vehicles were everywhere, I mean everywhere.  Like bugs flying around carrying people and things, mostly people, where ever they needed to go.  No time to take a ride even though it would have been fun.  This photo was taken outside the restaurant the guys liked to go to because the food was genuine Nigerian; spicy hot, enough to almost cause damage to a poor white guy who didn't grow up eating it.  My mouth, tongue and lips were lit up.

The bridge over the Cross River out in what they called "Itu".  Itu is also the name of the state so I'm not sure where we were.  We had a driver on an afternoon after the training and he took us "out and about" which was fun.

The people here live off the river; catch and eat, then catch and sell.

This is what I thought I would see more of in Africa.  Beautiful, isn't it.

These fish were caught in nets. They push a large stick down the throat (without cleaning the fish) then roast it over a fire to make it turn black.  The fish curls up in the process.  These were being sold along the side of the road as we approached the bridge.

I will be happy to visit here again.  

Our driver also took us to a Resort with a golf course that looked fabulous.  I had him stop at the club house after visiting the hotel complex so I could find out what the green fees were and other details.  18 holes, rented clubs, and a caddie (that was mandatory) would cost me USD$31.  I tried really hard to make it happen on Monday morning but my African friends wouldn't let me do it.  I would have been the only golfer and they refused to have Elaine or I on our own.  Nigeria is known for crime.  Mostly kidnapping.  There are very few whites in Nigeria.  All of the mission work in Nigeria is done by Africans, no white people involved in-country.  Needless to say I was not happy.  I could have laid very low in the car, golfed with the caddie, then returned laying low again in the car.  They (Elaine and my friends) would have none of it.  There may be another time.  I have no interest in going to northern Nigeria where the bad stuff happens.  Boco Haram (usually translated "western education is forbidden") Islamists are there.  Enough said about that.

The Nigerians I met were good people.  They seem to be more assertive, confident, strong-willed, and "entrepreneurial" as one of them said, than the other Africans we have met.  The current population is 206 million. Estimates of the population are around 401 million by 2050.  That would put them just behind China and India in population size in the world.  The growth is from couples tending to have many children and not immigration.  The median age is 18.  The Church is growing fast in this country.  Just in case you didn't know, the Africa West Area is the fasting growing Area in the Church right now.

There you go.  More info than you expected.

Isn't the country beautiful!