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Journal of African trips

Africa, spring 1999 part IV

Agelasto
2004-05-21 18:30:15

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entitled ?Tips for
Business Travelers to Nigeria? (Publication # 10097). The entire pamphlet is addressed to
?protecting yourself from business scams.? Business investors from the US have been
kidnapped and held for ransom; many have had their US bank accounts raided by their
Nigerian partners. Seemingly legitimate meetings have taken place in government offices,
after hours, when scam artists pretend to be official oil executives. I mention this
pamphlet because it was given me by a US consular official in Togo who suggested I
should substitute Togo for Nigeria, as business scams had crossed the border. Beware of
anyone who speaks English, he warned me.

True enough, Togo had not only its fair share of tourist touts and prostitutes (walking
down the street in Lome one afternoon I was physically attacked by one prostitute who
tried to rip off my shirt before I outran her. The locals told me that this particular street
had a more aggressive climate than most.), but I was approached by scam artists, too.
One such con-man, whom I tried to ignore like all the others, followed me for several
blocks, pitching his investment as I steadily increased my pace. In most countries I was
viewed as a simple tourist, but for some reason Togo?s underworld thought I was a
businessman and I attracted scam artists like flies to merde.

I want to end my essays on West Africa with theses comments on Nigeria because I think
this country and its capital city especially are seen by Africans to be the model for the
future of West Africa. I asked several Africans what city they though was the prototype
for African?s urban development; the answer I often received was Lagos. I suspect that
Lagos, based on the accounts I have heard, is a really foul place, but it is also the place
associated with opportunity, manifested in their worse forms as quick money scams. I
think that is why Lagos, this city of opportunity, appeals to West Africans. The urban
migration that Africa has suffered the past several decades has as its foundation hope and
the desire to escape rural life - both its lifestyle and its poverty. Young men migrate to
cities. Some just hang out and become petty criminals. Others become petty
entrepreneurs. Many sell wares from baskets atop their heads, saving their profits for
future investments. Eventually, maybe they will earn enough money to buy a motor
scooter and make a living taxiing passengers. After many years perhaps they can save
enough to buy a Peugeot from a foreign traveler and set up their own long-distance taxi
service. It?s a shame that there?s no economic system in place that can take advantage of
this African petty entrepreneurship. It is clear to me that Africans, unlike Asians, do not want to work 9-5 jobs in factories. They want to be their own bosses. They want quick
results; they go to the cities in search of a brighter future; they do not want to stay in the
villages. As this cycle replays itself in country after country, African?s rural traditions
deteriorate and its urban conglomerations become more and more unwieldy. Such seems
to be the future of West Africa.