TONYE001: LOME, TOGO

We arrived Lome late in the evening. I dropped off as the bus continued to Ghana. I called an "oleya" (their name for okada) and off we went deep into Lome, towards Village du Benin, Universite de Lome. We arrived there, I got registered, went to the hospital the next day, got treated, and I commenced school on the Monday of the next week.

I would love to see Lome as where I began my West African tour. Lome is Togo's capital, a small city that's about half the size of an average Nigerian state. As I would always say, Lome should be another name for "peace" - its people are about the most peaceful set of people I've ever seen. At Lome, one is always sure of his safety/security; free to walk the well-lighted streets in the night without any form of harassment. Their power supply is steady (of course! It's so small thus easy to manage), so is their water. The native language here is Eve (pronunciation: eveh), a language that seems to be spoken and understood by EVERY Togolese..(just saying).

On the day I registered at school, I paid for a room in the hostel at the Cite (pronounced "citeh" ). This was a mistake I would regret almost immediately.

The Hostel

Village du Benin (the name of the French learning centre) is an international platform where people from all parts of the world come to grab some French skills. They have various hostels for the countries that are represented, example, they have about 2-3 Ghana hostels (at the main campus). They also have a Nigerian Hostel (or prison?) but at the Cite, about 6-7 minutes’ drive from the main campus.

In 6 minutes (or so), my bike man rode us into the cite. The cite is another campus of the school but I'm not sure if there are classroom blocks here as it seemed like it was specifically for the hostels. A mixture of terribly old and some new buildings is the welcome view of the cite. As we forged in, I kept on praying in my mind that the Nigerian hostel should be one of the new buildings. Each time we approached a new building, I would ask my driver if it was here. I only had one response all the time I asked: a disappointing "no" that drew a question mark after the words of my prayers.

We took a narrow, left branch of the major road in the cite as we headed north-westwards. This was when I stopped praying as all the hostels in this direction are old, each with its degree of oldness. I started hoping in my mind that the Nigerian hostel should be one of the "not-so-old” buildings as it was obvious that I've lost out in my hope for the new hostels. My hope crashed as my driver turned right, heading to a building that would make a good object of tourist attraction at the museum! It’s the Nigerian hostel.

I swallowed hard. There were a few Nigerians on site, mostly Yorubas. They are students of “Traduction”, a French-English translating course. I said some “bonjours” as I greeted in the French tongue as we went in. My room was at the ground floor, to the left after the bathroom. My driver opened the door and we stepped in. That was the moment I decided that I was not going to stay there and I wouldn’t wish the devil himself to. My room (as well as other rooms) was a small square that can barely contain two of my walking strides (i.e. two steps wide or so). An iron bedframe lied at the right, a wooden table stood at the left leaving a narrow space in-between. There was a small wardrobe and a window that has more broken glasses than good ones. It seemed like we interrupted a “mosquito party” as thousands of mosquitoes flew to safety once we got in. The bathrooms? I’d rather bathe outside! It reeked of urine, eroded with dirty water (and urine?) and the toilet seats are white-turned-browns. I quickly dropped my box in the room and told my driver to take me to any hotel around. He took me to a Brazilian hotel (as I was told), Hotel Copacabana at Boulevard.

point of correction,ewe not eve & oleyia not oleya

You are a very polished boy. A typical portharcourt boy. Rivers State will soon be the most enlightened and educated state in nigeria following Amaechi's investment in education

The battle against malaria wasn't my only problem. I also had the ABC slowness to deal with (though I was fully aware that it was for our good). Was it my aching head or did I really see a bicycle overtake our bus? I still wonder! I had a seat mate whose silence was to my advantage (no abuse intended).

This is soo true

What happened to Ghana and Ivory Coast, I was looking forward to read about your stay in Ghana. Why u skip Ghana. By the way I am really enjoying this. Keep it coming

the below food is called Acheke, my favorite Ivory coast food. i once ate it with Dider Drogba in an Ivorian resturant in the UK.

@OP, you have a good writing style, engaging and funny. You should really consider writing. I also appreciate the fact that you didn't use unnecessary abbreviations ( text chat) , it would have made it a little boring to read.

It may sound funny but a movie can be made out of this.

Well done!

TONYE001: I still felt that a change of environment would help ease the constriction of my vasculature. I really needed a change of environment, even if it’s just for a night. I was thinking fast in search of a solution of my plight. I decided to give another hotel a try. I called an oleya.


The day was already a very long and stressful one so I didn’t have any energy to start doing my explanations in French, I needed to fetch someone that understands English so that I could explain myself and what I wanted comfortably. Fetching a Togolese that understands English isn’t a difficult task as out of every 10, 6 or 7 can fumble their way through the language.


The oleya I called stopped.

“Bonjour monsieur” I greeted.

“Bonjour chef” he replied.

“Please do you understand English?” I asked.

He nodded boldly as a beam of relief flashed through my spine. I took about 2 to 3 (perhaps up to 4) minutes to explain to him what I wanted. I told him that I needed a hotel that isn’t too costly and that it shouldn’t be far from the campus (the general name for the university). As I explained he kept on nodding his head assuring me of his understanding. When I was done, he asked me to climb the bike as we drove off.


We drove around the city of Lome for about 30 minutes, passing over ten hotels that looked cheap. I said nothing as I assumed that he had a particular place in mind he was taking me to. I got uneasy when we were yet to arrive at a destination on the 40th minute or so.

“Monsieur, please stop” I ordered him in French.

He stopped. I asked him where exactly he was taking me to.

“I didn’t understand where you told me you were going to” he said.

I almost fainted. It was just too much for one day. I needed a break badly. I paid him about 500CFAs or so (make him carry him trouble and mumuness go), got another oleya and told him to take me to my Copacabana.

I slept for the rest of the day.

that is what good educational system can do.english is thought 4rm secondary one till uni

dnawah: that is what good educational system can do.english is thought 4rm secondary one till uni

Taught.

Nice write up,but must say,your choice of words are too descriptive...description could be a beauty in sentences when its not overflogged.This thus makes your writing too poetic and bit of a bore,some readers may even skip a line or two ,knowing fully well that they couldn't have missed much..kudos all the same....

How come i've never seen anyone coming to learn English in NIgeria? Is our English not good enough?

@ op.. you are really a unique fellow from a unique institution. keep it up bro.. and please don't keep us waiting

I usually don't comment on NL but you are doing a fantastic job. I went with ABC through Cotonou, Lome and Accra in 2011&it was great fun. A great, cheap adventure (because the Naira has more value than the CFA, except in Ghana). Also stopped at your school in Lome. Quite agree with you that Nigeria has the least number of free roaming Westerners~I marvelled at the huge number of them in Lome.
Well done. Your adventures will stay with you for a long time. Now, you make me wish I'd included the other francophone countries in my own journey. I wish Nigerians would travel more~it's a fabulous way to broaden one's horizon.
Welcome back!

Bro i love ur write up and the story and pic about ur tour it cool bro, it makes me feel i should start my own tour too, maybe wen i visit ghana i would do my too. Suft like dis make it easy to travel outside nigeria with little or no guide. Thanks bro

Good job son

This is what we yearn for on NL not the junks that continually desecrate the front page.
Kudos Tonye,i really enjoyed your chronicles...

Wow! We are at the Frontpage...

Thanks to the hands that made this possible...

Thanks to you all for your comments...

I won't disappoint you...

More updates on the way...

The part that got me LOL..'make hin carry him mumuness go'...the guy na real aboki

Nice work! This is really good. I hope to travel round Africa and the world sometime. And the language, I really want to learn French....and/or Spanish. I am impressed.

#following

Whao! What can I say? Great adventure, good story and nice presentation.......can't wait to read the next update.

Thanks for these insights.I plan on going next year and I'm gonna tour like you.Hope I will cope sha.Passed through Lome once but it was in the night,couldnt get much of the place.God help me.

I'm really not keen on learning french. Na Spanish/Portugese i wan learn. I'll soon plan my trip to South and Central America.

Nice write up. Am enjoying it oh...
I feel like going on an adventure too... ..

Blokyll: I usually don't comment on NL but you are doing a fantastic job. I went with ABC through Cotonou, Lome and Accra in 2011&it was great fun. A great, cheap adventure (because the Naira has more value than the CFA, except in Ghana). Also stopped at your school in Lome. Quite agree with you that Nigeria has the least number of free roaming Westerners ~I marvelled at the huge number of them in Lome.
Well done. Your adventures will stay with you for a long time. Now, you make me wish I'd included the other francophone countries in my own journey. I wish Nigerians would travel more~it's a fabulous way to broaden one's horizon.
Welcome back!

There are too many security problems with Nigeria and our people self no gbadun, them fit kidnap albino.

me really want to learn french oo,enjoy your writing because it is up to my taste- descriptive write up- me love it. more ink to your pen Tonye

I stayed in Cité Albert Salon in 2006. It's very beautiful but small. I will never forget Village du Bénin(CIREL) in Lome. Memories etched in gold.

nice write up Mr.tonye, but d issue with nysc u mentioned in ur initial post,I never heard of it before,maybe it's peculiar to ur school...In fact I know of a graduate of lasu who got admitted through direct entry and currently seeing out his service year in bauchi.. Back to ur story, something tells me u are a son of a pastor or someone who is deeply religious. u mean u didn't knack zika apako at all?...chai ! bros eh,not even any other togolese lady?
BROS U ARE SLEEPING ON THE BICYCLE! [i][/i]

Monsieur l'aventurier, j'aime ton style. Tu es un bon redacteur. It is not easy to be multi lingual. You will make a good carrier in writing.
Impatiently waiting for updates. Keep it up!!

Blokyll: I usually don't comment on NL but you are doing a fantastic job. I went with ABC through Cotonou, Lome and Accra in 2011&it was great fun. A great, cheap adventure (because the Naira has more value than the CFA, except in Ghana). Also stopped at your school in Lome. Quite agree with you that Nigeria has the least number of free roaming Westerners~I marvelled at the huge number of them in Lome.
Well done. Your adventures will stay with you for a long time. Now, you make me wish I'd included the other francophone countries in my own journey. I wish Nigerians would travel more~it's a fabulous way to broaden one's horizon.
Welcome back!

True Talk

Lovely story/article. More please, and pictures