a tour of the Cross River region of Nigeria
Whilst still wishing I had more time in Lagos, I took my flight from there to Port Harcourt, to join a ten-day tour of what the agency naughtily called Biafra – a term you should not use in front of most Nigerians. Yes, a lot of time has passed since the Biafra War (1967-70), but it resulted in the deaths of more than a million people, and the country is still battling to maintain its unity. Our tour included a visit to the Biafra War Museum in Umuahia (which was for a time the capital of Biafra), and I did hear a few rants from people in the region who still resent being a part of Nigeria (given that most of the wealth of the nation consists of the oil in their region), but it is generally not something you should talk about today. What we tried to talk about was the cultural history of that part of the country, but I have to say that we met so many kings and chiefs, and saw so many different masquerades, that my head is still reeling, and I think I just have to acce...