Back from Nigeria

[Sr. Janet]

Well, here I am, back from Nigeria, to find trees that have, in the
meantime, turned from green to many shades of gold, from their
abundance to their late-Autumn dress of fewer and fewer leaves as the
wind blows. By contrast, I have left behind cloudless blue skies, high
temperatures and the dust of the harmattan season that carries sand
from the Sahara…

It was a wonderful experience and in many different ways. Thirty years
have passed since my first visit to Nigeria, so many things have
changed and many remain unchanged.

As we checked in online, the day before departure, printing out
boarding passes for the plane, there was a sense of amazement that
such is entirely possible today (admittedly painfully slowly),
something undreamed even a few years ago.

Also, with the collapse of landline telephones, mobile phones are
everywhere. Who would ever have imagined that a young man strolling
through a remote village would also be speaking into his mobile phone?
As the nomadic Fulani herd their cattle through the drying grass
towards the rivers for grazing, who could ever have envisaged his
phone and a radio accompanying the small bundle of possessions
strapped to one of the animals?

In the past 30 years, Islamisation has become an increasingly
important factor for the Church to consider in any of its activities.
Yet, in spite of visiting churches in the process of rebuilding after
their destruction by ‘activists’, there was also the memorable visit,
escorted by Bishop Matthew Audu of Lafia, to the Emir where, within
the palace, we prayed over the Emir and his court. In return, one of
his entourage prayed over us. It was a 2008 re-enactment of the visit
of St Francis of Assisi to the Sultan 800 years ago, precious and full
of hope for the future.

There was Mass offered in the prison in Lafia, where the innocent and
great criminals were herded together and, outside the chapel, a man
was shackled, naked, in the hot sun, as punishment for his escape
attempt. Yet that Liturgy followed a steady stream of inmates going to
Confession and was filled with a deeply-moving mixture of joy and
pain. One man wore a light blue t-shirt with a line-drawing of Jesus
carrying the Cross. It said it all. Many of the prisoners were there
only because they had no money to pay a lawyer. How many years will it
be before they come to trial…if ever?

Yet there were also the children, full of smiles, showing off their
ability to read, too young to realise that, since time began, they are
the first from their villages ever to enjoy that skill…

God bless,
Sr Janet