Truly, there aren't many towns like Lokoja

So, having arrived in Lokoja, I can categorically confirm that:

a) Truly, there aren't many towns like Lokoja;

b) It looks nothing like the Master Plan;

c) The giant hippopotami appear to have left town.

Our great achievement of the day was making it Lokoja intact. When I read in the guidebook that 'the road to Lokoja is another blackspot for accidents, and there are loads of wrecks on the side of the road', I took it with a pinch of salt; the same could be said of many African roads. But the Abuja-Lokoja road (which is the first stage of the road link from Abuja to Lagos) is being upgraded to a dual carriageway designed 'to reduce the number of deaths due to reckless overtaking manoeuvres'. Unfortunately the process of constructing the dual carriageway means that the road is currently more dangerous than ever. There are portions of the road where new carriageway is open and others where it remains under construction. Unfortunately, there are no signs to indicate when this is the case, so an unsuspecting driver can be merrily cruising along what he assumes to be a dual carriageway when a freight truck appears over the brow of a hill heading straight towards him at 100kph. Not an experience I'm particularly keen to repeat. Although I guess we do need to get home somehow. 

So it was with some relief that we arrived at our hotel, which I was delighted to discover had been awarded the title of 'Best Hotel in Kogi State'. Admittedly, the check-in procedure lasted approximately two hours longer than anticipated, there was a fairly loose interpretation of the term 'reservation' and lunch was rather more leisurely than planned, but it felt like such a relief to be here that I didn't really mind. Despite having booked a family room, we were offered two rooms several hundred yards apart - one for us and the other for Alex and Freya. (Given how early the children are waking these days, I was quite tempted to go for that option, but we eventually settled for a mattress for them on the floor of our room). Another member of our party went to her room to discover that someone else's clothes were still in there (amusingly, the hotel staff were adamant he had checked out even when confronted with the missing person's belongings). One couple found their sheets unchanged; in another room the bed was neatly made but a large footprint was clearly visible in the middle of the bed. Even young Alex sensed that check-in was rather more cumbersome than it might have been, asking at one point 'Are we all staying in different rooms or are we all sleeping together?'. However, beds were eventually found for all guests, lunch was consumed and we were introduced to our guide, the head of the Lokoja tourism board, Mr. Joseph, who was extremely welcoming and provided us with a personal tour of the town.

Lokoja is a busy, provincial town of approximately 90,000 inhabitants. There is clearly a thriving local economy - the town has numerous banks, ATMs, restaurants, churches and hotels, and small roadside stalls of every descriptions selling everything from yams, bananas and onions to sofas, fridges, mattresses and wheelbarrows. Imaginatively named local businesses included clothing shops ('Gussy Up Clothing, Leather and Accessories', 'Confidence Boutique', 'Home of Wears'), bookshops ('God's Armory Bookshop', 'Caring Hearts Bookshop', 'Shepherd's Heart Books') and food retailers ('Treasures Bakery','God's Care Supermarket'). My favourite of the numerous accommodation options was 'Decency Hotels Ltd' offering 'Exotic Rooms, Hospitality and Friendliness: The Peak of Decency'. However, although the town is clearly making an effort to attract visitors, one can't help being struck by the piles of rubbish almost everywhere, even at the 'tourist' sites.

The first of the afternoon's sightseeing activities comprised visiting categorically the worst-maintained cemetery I have ever seen - an expanse of dirt covered in broken bottles, litter, rubble and discarded plastic chairs, under which a few fragmented gravestones were half-hidden under twisted rusty railings. The European Cemetery was better cared for, but still in very poor condition. It contains graves of African missionaries and European soldiers, many of whom died of malaria and disease rather than in battle, although there are four Commonwealth War Graves from the First World War here. 

We looked around the site of the first hospital in northern Nigeria (established by Lord Lugard in 1900) and the first Primary School in northern Nigeria - which, remarkably, is still being used as a school today.

We also visited Freedom Square, home to the 'Iron of Liberty', marking the spot where slaves were set free by European and African missionaries in 1900, and the Holy Trinity Church.

Lokoja's strangest tourist site is a roundabout featuring a bizarre statue of what appears to be a giant gourd and a red-lipped fish. Despite energetic enquiries, I am still flummoxed by the symbolism of this concrete creation.

        

    

We stopped off for a drink at a bar housed in Lord Lugard's former staff quarters, built in 1901. Lord Lugard's Residence was next door and both buildings were built on stilts, designed to keep the floods and reptiles (and presumably giant hippopotami) out.

We returned to the hotel for an evening meal and a few relaxing beers in the pleasant outside area. Simon and I took it in turns to look after the children, who were supposed to be settling down to sleep after their exciting day. However, we soon realised that we hadn't taken enough notice of the fluorescent yellow sign outside the hotel, advertising the new nightclub which had opened on Valentine's Day and which promised an intriguing mix of 'fun, music, security and specials for lovers', and boasting opening hours 'from 10pm till insomnia'. Unfortunately for us, Alex and Freya's insomnia began at approximately 9pm, when the pounding music started just as we'd finally calmed them down enough to stop giggling and wriggling. Hence the fact that I'm blogging at midnight...

                                                                                                                              (Photo: Nick Horne)