The perfect souvenir from Nigeria

Posted on June 13, 2012 by Good Naija Girl

Since I came back from my last visit to Nigeria in 2010 (yes, almost two years ago!), I’ve been wanting to share an idea for a great souvenir for your non-Nigerian female friends, the ones I’m imagining you’re returning to after visiting Nigeria. This souvenir is lightweight, easy to pack in your luggage, and it’s sure to be loved. Have you guessed what it is?

A scarf! It’s a great accessory, even for women who don’t accessorize much, and when it’s a scarf made from ankara, you’ll be giving a souvenir that will a) be used and b) turn heads.

Ankara is sold in six-yard lengths. We asked a seamstress to make scarves that were 2 yards (6 feet) long and 1/3 the width of the ankara (~~does anyone know what this standard width is?~~ Gbemisoke did! The width of the material is 45 inches which means each scarf was 15 inches wide). If you like longer scarves, you could make them 3 feet long and 15 inches wide.

I wanted the edges to be finished so they were serged on all four sides (the yellowish-gold thread below). The seamstress selected complementary colours for the serging and I think that added a lot to the finished product.

My mom, sister, and I each chose an ankara print we liked. Two of the ankara were six yards long so they made 9 scarves each, while one was only two yards long so it made three scarves. We then redistributed the scarves among the three of us to give to our friends. I ended up with six in the end and in the interest of full disclosure I kept the three in the first picture for myself!

Giving a non-Nigerian something made from ankara is a perfect way to share the beauty of Nigeria with them through the bright colours and lovely designs of ankara prints. There are so many other things that can be made from ankara too: in the past we’ve made skirts and blouses or shirts for friends here. Lots of people are making jewelry from the ankara print too so if you know someone in Nigeria doing that, that’s a great souvenir. What about a belt? I know one of my brothers would totally rock an ankara belt. Bowties, regular ties, a table runner…there are so many things that can be made from this fabric.

What is your favourite souvenir to bring from Nigeria for friends?

New role in my local Nigerian community

Posted on August 31, 2011 by Good Naija Girl

My parents are one of the founding families of our local Yoruba association, which has been running for almost 10 years (it’ll be 10 years later this year). My dad actually had the honour of giving a (longish) keynote speech when the association launched and he served as president over the last year or two. The association meets every two months and their main activities as I can determine are a picnic in July, the end of year/Christmas party and the Yoruba school initiative on Saturdays for children up to the age of 13.

For the last few years, my dad has been encouraging me to get involved in the association because without “young people”, the association will die. It’s true that the average age of those attending meetings is probably around mid-40s, and the picnic and end of year party are rarely attended by people in their late teens, 20s, or 30s, aside from those of us whose parents are founding members and who ask us to attend. In fact, attending these sorts of events is one of the reason I call myself a Good Nigerian Girl (in a tongue-in-cheek way!).

There are a couple of other Nigerian associations in the city, and the president of one of them is a guy around my age who seems very dynamic, focused and hardworking. He stepped into a pretty bad mess with lots of politics, but according to many of the elders of the community, he’s making strides in the right direction. I ran into him at an event last weekend and he asked me to take the post of Youth Coordinator. I was reluctant at first (I would prefer to be responsible for public relations and publicity) but the more we talked the more interested I became, though I refused to commit. The main reason was because I felt like I would be betraying the Yoruba association if I got on board with this other association, especially since the Youth Coordinator of the Yoruba association had recently contacted my sister and I regarding helping with youth coordination. So, I called the Yoruba association’s Youth Coordinator and she said the help needed was actually for this other association, which meant I was free to volunteer as Youth Coordinator after all.

I have to admit I’m scared to hold this position. There is a significant time commitment, and I don’t want to be involved in something that is disorganized and shoddily run, something I already told the president. I feel like I’m going to attend the meetings and be that annoying person asking for a calendar or asking for timelines for things, but someone has to do it. The new president seems to like order and organization too so maybe things won’t be so bad.

Then of course there’s the youth. It’s a tall order to ask one person to be responsible for Nigerians ranging in age from the late teens to the early 30s (as far as I can tell that is the age range). This will probably mean organizing different events for different age levels and although I know how to run an event, I still have my insecurities: I’m not a cool person, I never have been. I’m a bit geeky, more traditional, so if these kids expect me to be up to date on all the latest Naija lingo or music, they will be disappointed. If they expect me to be a fashionista, again: disappointment awaits them.

Also, in my experience, college and university-age adults stay away from Nigerian-run events for a few reasons: first, they may not hear about it due to poor publicity, secondly they find the events dry and disorganized, and thirdly they may not want to associate with Nigerian cultural associations, period. However I’m at the stage where I feel the need for Nigerians to make more of an impact on our city. There are quite a few of us around and we know so little about each other. We don’t network, we don’t support each other’s initiatives because we don’t know about them, and I think we should do more in that direction. So personally, my goal is more to build community and provide resources for those who might be new to the city, but I know I will have to let the people who identify as youth direct what we do because if they are not interested in it, or if they don’t feel a part of it, there will be no youth to coordinate.

How about you? Are you involved in a (local) Nigerian association? What has your experience been interacting with Nigerian associations (either as a member or an attendee of an event run by a Nigerian association)?

On marrying for papers

Posted on July 4, 2011 by Good Naija Girl

I recently watched a documentary about Canadians who had been used by someone they fell in love with to gain Canadian citizenship. There was one story that was particularly touching: this Canadian woman had really immersed herself in her spouse’s country and culture, having her wedding there with very few of her family in attendance. Soon after they were reunited in Canada she found out that the guy had recently (if I’m not mistaken) fathered a child with one of the women she had become close to during her visits to her spouse’s home country, something he had not disclosed to her. I think he knew about the child but hadn’t disclosed the information on his application forms (the Canadian government requires you to declare your family members if you’re immigrating to Canada or coming here to study). I missed the first part of the show so there may have been other things too. Anyway you could tell that she was heartbroken over the way things had turned out and she still loved him, even as she was trying to get him deported.

You may be aware of people who marry citizens of the country they desire to gain citizenship to under false pretenses then divorce when they have what they want. In some cases the fraudster is already engaged or married to someone else, a fact they keep hidden from the person they are marrying, which just leads to more heartache in the end. Though the documentary focused on the couples being from different cultures, there were also examples of people of the same culture, one a Canadian citizen, the other not, where the Canadian had been defrauded.

(There is another group that makes a business transaction to exchange citizenship for money and that’s not what I’m talking about, though I suspect most governments don’t want to know that’s taking place.)

In Canada, once you marry someone you can file the application to bring them to the country as a permanent resident. The only thing a permanent resident can’t do is vote (as far as I know…). As the sponsor, you are obligated to support your spouse for the first three years he or she is in Canada. This doesn’t mean they can’t get a job (they can apply for the majority of jobs except those reserved for citizens) but this three-year rule is in place to encourage the Canadian citizen to “shine their eyes well” as Nigerians say: if your spouse decides not to work and to instead depend on the government for financial support, they can. The government will pay them what they qualify for…and send the bill directly to you. So if you get involved with a fraudster it could cost you more than the emotional pain of a terminated relationship: it could hit you hard in the pocketbook.

You can divorce your fraudster spouse but you’re still financially responsible for them as long as they’re in the country if they decide to collect welfare. You could try to get them deported but a lawyer in the documentary said it’s pretty much impossible to do that unless the person does something that Canada determines to be requiring deportation (lying to you or collecting government assistance won’t do it). As a result, these defrauded folks feel betrayed by their country too.

Those who have been defrauded have suggested that the Canadian government revisit its policy of giving permanent residency to spouses so that if things don’t work out, it will be easier to remove the fraudster from Canada and also eliminate the situation where the pseudo-spouse can collect government benefits at the expense of the Canadian. Instead they think a two or three year temporary resident visa would suffice, in effect putting the spouse on probation. Following this time, the person could apply for permanent residency, perhaps through an expedited process, as a reward for “good behaviour.”

I like this idea personally. I know it’s annoying to have a temporary status in a country and to be limited in what you can or can’t do as a result. It’s got to be annoying too to have to always make sure your documents are up to date but those who come to study manage to do it. If students decide to remain in the country after their studies, I hope they go through the proper channels to make that a reality. Some employers might be wary of hiring someone with a temporary status in the country but hopefully those would be rare cases. It’s a shame that we always have to make rules more stringent rules to accommodate the minority that is prone to exploiting situations but that’s just the way it is.

What are your thoughts? Do you know of other countries where the temporary resident thing is in place?