A different Zion

Yesterday I was driving back to Joburg from Mpumalanga against Easter exodus traffic. As I approached Joburg traffic was so bad that the highway was at a complete standstill leaving Joburg and clogged with Kumbis. I found out that the reason was that the Zion Christian Church has an annual trip to their holy mountain in Limpopo (also east of Joburg) over Easter, and that caused the absurd traffic.

The black South African I was with explained that it is a mix of Christianity and native superstitions, involves communing with ancestors, trips to this holy mountain, some holy tea/water that makes people vomit, and that it is very hierarchical. From some quick research it seems there are ~4m members, or ~8% of SA’s population, and that this is mostly concentrated among three tribes.

I have seen a lot of blacks wearing green ribbons with silver stars on them, almost like a sheriff badge on a green ribbon. I found out that this is the symbol of someone in the ZCC, along with special clothes I’d seen – blue/white bishop-looking robes, khaki uniforms with service covers, etc. Everything sort of clicked then.

Back to Nigeria

This past week I was back in Nigeria, but for a different project, around Lagos this time, and only for 4 days.

Average Nigerian street shop.

This time I actually experienced Lagos traffic. Previously all I did was go airport-hotel-airport, and it took max 2 hrs in traffic. This time I was actually driving in the suburbs of Lagos and to another town (Ibadan). It took me 30 min to get off the islands that make up downtown Lagos, and it took me 6 hrs one night to get back home when it would have been 1.5 hrs with no traffic. Oh, and we were going against prevailing traffic.

It’s not that bad, though, because staring out the window is fascinating. (Some video here.)  It seems that all of life happens on the roadside, whereas in the U.S. it’s set apart by the parking lot separating the street from the shopping center, and in SA it’s set apart by the security fence that rings the shopping complex. At night, open kerosene-fueled flames cast dim light on the dark bodies clogging the streets.

I just can’t describe how bad some roads are. Frequently the undulating packed dirt looks more like a dirtbike track than a street. The highway from Lagos to Ibadan is pretty decent, meaning not too many potholes, but there was a point that was touchy where we were trying to pass 18 wheelers that were weaving all over the road because they were dodging potholes at 80 km/h. That’s how they flip, and I’ve seen a decent number of flipped trucks during my time here.

I had a great driver named Tosin. I had him frequently before, so it was good to see him again. He’s very talkative, has an opinion on everything, and can talk his way into/out of anything. Between his smooth-talking Yoruba and the fact that I’m a white guy in business dress, we got all sorts of meetings we wouldn’t have been able to get had I been a different color or had a different driver.

Like before, I had mixed feelings when leaving. Basic living requires real work there, but the flip side is that the stories are endless.

Very typical religious billboard.  They are everywhere -- probably ~20% of billboards.

Religion in Nigeria, part 2

Joel Osteen has nothing on Nigerian preachers.

For those of you not familiar with Joel Osteen, he’s a pastor in Houston who is more self-help guru than teacher of the Bible. His book titles are things like “Your Best Life Now,” “Becoming a Better You,” etc. He himself is a brand, sort of like Lady Gaga. He’s frequently associated with what is called “name it and claim it” theology.

In Nigeria just about every church has a sign that goes something like: “House of Power and Blessing Ministries, 3rd District 6th Diocese, Apostles of God Rev. John and Jane Doe, Pastors.” The focus, at least of everything that is externally visible, is on claiming blessings and realizing the earthly wealth and success that surely we must get if we just believe hard enough because God loves us. There is a super popular daily devotional called Daily Manna that was in my hotel rooms with the Gideon Bible; every day is 95% inspiration and 5% selected Bible verses that are generic and positive.

Example:
“…See John 3:8: “The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit” (NKJV). Note the words: “SO IS EVERYONE WHO IS BORN OF THE SPIRIT.” That means you are as mysterious as the wind! That means when men say, it is over with you, then will your new beginning spring forth! That means every exit from something is an entry into a better one for you. That means every loss is a gain in disguise for you! That means what others called a disappointment is an appointment with destiny concerning you. God will make you a mystery to yourself! God is ready to lift you beyond explanation, therefore get ready for gossips/critics because they would soon start talking about you! … No philosopher can philosophize how a slave boy (Joseph) became a sage (a wise man)! No mathematician can calculate how a scar is turned into a star! Your progress into destiny will defy the explanation of friends and will be a shocker to your foes! LIKE THE WIND, YOU CANNOT BE EXPLAINED! Look up to God! (FASTING CONTINUES)! …Open your mouth and declare aloud that you are a wonder, a sign and a mystery. Declare that you will make it in life and you will be celebrated. Declare that your tomorrow is a story of hope and your best days are just ahead.”

There is a Nigerian TV channel that is 24/7 big name inspirational preachers, including “Pastor Chris” who puts out Daily Manna.

My issue isn’t with what is explicit (there is a statement of how to become a Christian that is extremely simple but correct in as far as it goes) but with what is implicit: that the promises of “power” and “overcoming” and “God giving us what we need” that in the Bible are in reference to our earthly life. One need look no further than the fate of the disciples to see that this is no the case.

However, hope is a powerful thing, and these pastors frequently become very rich. Their success is seen not as hoarding wealth given for God’s ministry but as an example of what God can do for each person if you just believe harder (and give a little more)!

The emotional appeals full of spiritual warfare imagery have particular pull here because indigenous spiritualism is still very widespread. Benin City is actually a hotbed of it. There is still a head local “Oba” who is a bit like Queen Elizabeth -- most people don't strictly view him as their leader, but they still fear him to some degree and give weight to what he says.  In Lagos I went into a neighborhood where the two guards at the entrance had no guns and were in regular clothes. When I commented that it wasn’t great security my driver told me it was actually very good security because they were voodoo practitioners and that they couldn’t be killed with bullets. He really believed it, even though he had also separately said he was a Christian and talked very well about how many Nigerians claim to be Christians but don’t live it out.

Better late than never

Here are a few odds and ends that were in my mind at one point but never made it to the blog.

Religion:
I went to the Abuja national church to take a look inside. The most prominent interior feature is also the most interesting: it is long and narrow, but rather than having the pulpit/stage at one end, it is smack dab in the middle. Between the organ and choir stand on one side and the media overlook on the other (not kidding), this means that the congregation’s seating is split in two. While the preaching may be just as good from the back as from the front, no one wants the wrong side of that view for an entire service. The solution? The center stage rotates, just like a big rotating concert stage at a Super Bowl performance.

I also found out that, unlike the mosque, there is no full-time pastor. This means the national church is really like a conference center – nothing happens unless someone comes to town or rents it out.

There is a new Nigerian working with me. Last week as we were talking some and getting to know each other he told me incredulously that he had met an American who was not a Christian. An American who isn’t a Christian? How could this be?

For context, remember that Nigeria, at least the southern half, is highly and very openly Christian. I am continually amazed at the number of churches (usually with really long and uplifting names), the death announcements that include notices of multiple church events in the burial ceremonies, the number of people who go around reading devotionals, the Christian columns in newspapers, and the political talk laced with the appropriate references to God.

Corruption:
I have been happily surprised that I have never been explicitly shaken down for money, though there have been plenty of oblique references. Airport workers have seen things in my bag (namely South African Airways biz-class packets that are World Cup themed) and joke about me bringing it for them. I’m sure the answer they want is “sure,” but I haven’t given anything up yet. A lady at a screening post asked me if I brought her any foreign coins. Immigration is always slow, but I haven’t had anyone hassle me to the point where I thought they were holding me up just for money.

At one airport screening the lady wanted to take away my razor blades. They are normal safety blades and I have flow in/out for 2 months with them. I knew it was made up and I’m sure she did, too, so I just argued for about 30 seconds and she relented. I definitely think she was hoping I would pay her to let me keep them.

That hasn’t been the case for everyone, though. When my project manager first arrived a guy was helping him through the airport and told him it was time to pay the “protocol tax” of ~$20, which doesn’t exist. The PM, suspicious but not knowing how to argue against it, insisted on getting a receipt. When the guy took the money but didn’t give a receipt, my PM made a fuss and two guards came over, at which point the other man was very apologetic and claimed there had been a miscommunication.

Culture:
One thing I dislike about this place is that everyone wants to sell you something/do a service for a tip. Props to them for aggressively trying to make money rather than begging, but I don’t want any of it and so I automatically say no when people start approaching me.

Yesterday as I arrived in Senegal a porter tried to take my bags for me. I wouldn’t let go. (My immediate reason: I had no CFA francs, was not going to tip the guy in big USD, and didn’t figure he would have any use for Nigerian naira.) We had an actual tug of war for a second of two before he gave up. Later there was a lady in line ahead of me about to put her bags through an x-ray machine while talking on a cell. Since she only had one hand free the guy came and grabbed her other bag. She was obviously peeved and was telling the guy off, but he stood there with a steel grip, shuffled two feet, and put the bag on the belt for her. Valiant effort, but no tip.

People here are also much more direct. The first day I was here someone was joking with me and said that if I ate too much of something I would “end up like her,” referring to a rotund lady also in the office. The other day an airport screener said she “liked my nose” out of the blue, and this was the same day someone in the office asked where the other McKinsey guy, “the fat one,” was this week.

They also openly talk about stereotypes of the different ethnicities.   For example: how do you know if a Igbo is really dead?  Wave a coin over his nose and see if he still doesn't move.

I commented once before on the newspapers and their contents, but I’ll also comment on how ubiquitous they are. Since internet is much less common and because Nigerian news isn’t exactly the focus of Yahoo.com, newspapers thrive here.

Comms:
I communicate here using a Nigerian cell phone and a Nigerian 3G data card for my computer. It is usually faster than hotel land connections. A 3GB/1 month computer plan costs 10,000 NGN, which is about $66. Not cheap.

Bad comms are a real pain. The internet seems to frequently slow way down between 7-10pm, perhaps because lots of people get on. This means, for example, that I frequently can’t call back to the U.S. using a VOIP number unless I’m plugged into a landline on the weekend. This week there was a day when there was no data service at all – on the bberry or the computer. I have never had a connection anywhere outside of SA, landline or other, that approximates the speeds we take for granted in the U.S.

The rest:
Sometimes I want locals to take a picture for me, and I have learned to very carefully explain how to use the camera. Cell phones are ubiquitous, but people here are frequently intrigued – and stymied – by a digital camera.

This also ties in to something else: a lady at work told me that one of her friends wanted to take a picture with me, and would I agree. I couldn’t really say no, but I just had bad visions of what would happen with the photos. It was an even bigger deal when they brought in someone else with a real camera and external flash to take the picture. Then I realized that it was an old Leica film camera. I was mightily relieved to know that the pictures, though bland, weren’t promptly going all over Nigerian Facebook.

Affirmative action in Nigeria: a case study on non-racial (or “micro-racial”) AA

I'm on a project with a Nigerian co-worker, and we've had some good conversations.  For someone from the U.S. I actually know a good bit about Nigerian politics, but after exhausting that I asked him for more, and I learned about Nigeria's own version of affirmative action (AA).

The south is generally better educated than the north.  (To repeat what I posted earlier, one person told me that it is a reflection of education in madrasas in the north vs. regular schools in the south.)  The nation does a careful balancing act because of tribal and religious tension.  Because of this, important places like universities, government departments, and national companies have quotas for people from different states.  These quotas are generally in proportion to a state's population.  (However, no one trusts the population/census figures.)

 

The "Ritz Hotel" in Benin City. There is also a "Ritz Carleton" hotel.

The way they enforce this is just like the way SA admits people to universities: for example, if you are from a northern state, you might need an 80 on a university entrance exam to go to a prestigious school; if you are from the south you might need a 92.  These cutoffs are set based on how low they need to go to get the requisite number of people from each pool.

I asked this guy his opinion on AA and was surprised by his vehement diatribe against it – in all forms, both in SA and in Nigeria.

Why?  Some of his points were familiar (you are promoting incompetent people, etc.).  One key one: AA is actually hurting the country by pushing good people out of the country.  If you look ahead and realize that you will have to wait and watch less qualified people get promoted before you, you are much more likely to leave the country so you can compete on your own merits.

I find Nigerian AA fascinating because it is AA that isn't race-based in the traditional sense (black/white/etc.) and is instead based on where you were born.  It could in some ways be considered "micro-racial" in that where you are born has a strong correlation with your tribe.

I questioned whether the Nigerian AA was really a religious AA disguised as geographic (i.e. the north is Muslim, south is Christian, and therefore by helping people from the north through AA it could be that you are pushing a religion and disguising it as geographic).  He emphasized that seeing everything in religious terms here is not accurate; tribal ties are stronger than religious ones.

Religion in Nigeria

I’ve been surprised by religion here in Nigeria. I knew the basics – Muslim north, Christian south, an almost 50/50 split, tensions and occasional violence between them with churches getting torched and people getting killed. I also know that Christianity has been rising in some areas, and that some Episcopalian diocese are aligning themselves with conservative Anglican bishops in Africa.

If I didn’t know any of that, I would think that Nigeria is a very Christian nation. At the client in Benin, many doors have “John 3:16” stickers, and I have seen two people with Christian booklets at their desk. One of the 7 TV channels at the hotel is a Christian talk channel. In Abuja I read a paper that had a half-page Christian devotional/message (no corresponding Muslim message), leaders repeatedly refer to God and give credit/pin hopes on God. I went to a mall today and popped into a books/electronics store; about a third of the shelf space in the book section is devoted to religion, and almost all is Christian. While in there I heard a song I didn’t recognize that was something about praising God. (It was followed in the playlist by some hip-hop song.)

A university in Benin.

This raises two questions in my mind:
1) Is what I see religion (just outward trappings or “cultural Christianity” because everyone expects it) or genuine orthodox Christian belief?
2) What about the Muslims? Other than the large national mosque in Abuja that I can see from my hotel, I have not seen any outward signs of Islam.

I don’t know the answer to 1), and will hopefully get a chance to find out. As for 2), I think there are two main factors so far:
-I have been working in what is a mostly Christian zone, so the disparity is somewhat natural
-The Nigerian working with me said that the Muslim areas are in general poorer and less educated, partially because they have a strong system of madrasas where children learn to memorize the Koran backward and forward, but don’t learn math/science/language. My extrapolation is that institutions like newspapers or other educated areas may be disproportionately staffed by Christians.