NIGERIA
(continued)

As we were scribbling minutes, Godwin returned. He wanted our comments on a presentation he was making to the government. One slide in particular caught my attention. It called for political stability. The key phrase? "No more coups, guys!"
The drive to the airport was the sole remaining challenge. Our flight was scheduled for 11:30PM, so we left the centre of Lagos at 1:00PM. The expressway to the airport was actually a combination highway and bazaar. Local shopkeepers had set up tables in the 'slow' lane. They were selling everything - fruit, newspapers, mattresses, yams the size of Volkswagens, cloth, soft drinks, wood carvings, stamps, PCs, fans, radios, copy watches, live chickens, dead fish. It wasn't a bazaar for the faint-hearted. Touts, balancing enormous bundles on their heads, were weaving in and out among the traffic. The cars, clearly annoyed that one lane had been appropriated for a shopping centre, squeezed three columns of vehicles into the two remaining lanes on the super highway. It would have been dangerous if there hadn't been a broken down car every 100 meters or so.
The driver told me that no one ever repaired a car in Nigeria because it would never be returned with the same engine. People just drove until the car collapsed. There were, nevertheless, lots of cars because the government, holding gasoline prices at 9 US› per litre, encouraged lots of driving. As a side-effect, there was also lots of smuggling. Gasoline sold at world prices in neighboring countries, there was a powerful incentive to cheat the system.
At the airport, we cleared the first of several official checkpoints. We deposited our luggage and got a boarding pass. We paid the exit tax and collected a receipt. Then we drove to the Sheraton and waited until 8:00 PM before returning to the airport to run the exit gauntlet.
Back at the airport later that evening, our documents were examined. A government official verified that we had a valid exit visa. The next agent recorded the visa number in a spiral notebook and gave us a receipt. A customs agent inspected my briefcase and gave me a receipt. At a monetary control station, our currency was counted. (Knowing it was illegal to take Niria out of the country, but aware that Darius wanted some for his collection, I had hidden several notes in my cowboy boots.) Agents at two subsequent stops collected and filed the receipts that we had collected earlier. Traditionally, each of these checkpoints had been established to supplement the income of the associated clerk. Naturally, I was oblivious to the situation.
At one stop, a uniformed agent held out his hand. "How's business?"
Annoyed that Phil Watts had refused to listen to my presentation, I was happy to explain the visit to this guy. "It went well, thank you. I work in The Hague and we're trying to establish reliable communication with the company here. We've talked with Nitel, with NNPC, with the divisions and with the contractors. It's a challenge, but I really liked the opportunity and to..."
"Just go."
At the gate, I was shocked to discover that there were more people than seats. I couldn't imagine the having a 'standby' ticket in Lagos. Luckily, there were no problems with my ticket. Even more luckily, the DC-10 was in clear sight at the gate. Aware that scheduled departure was at least an hour away, I looked for a seat in the gate area. Instead, I was directed to a staircase and onto the runway where I was told to mark my baggage.
Unfortunately, my baggage wasn't there. The conveyer belt had broken. They were 'working on the situation'. I waited outside, in the humid and heated air, surrounded by large and bold insects. It was a long wait. It had been quite a trip.

Epilog

Several months after the visit, we were reviewing progress in Lagos. Naturally, nothing had happened.
"Recall", I said, "that everything depends on completing the 500 meter link between Freeman House and the telephone company - before the rainy season."
There was a crash of thunder, the lights went out, and a deluge hit the conference room windows.
"I think we can all agree that we’ve missed that milestone. Perhaps it is time to construct an ark." [In fact, we hired scuba divers to pull the cable through the storm sewers.]