Five days in majestic Istanbul
A press briefing by the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Sanusi Lamido Sanusi was slated for 10 am that Sunday and we had to be there on time. We hurriedly took our bath and made straight to the ICC were we registered as newsmen from Nigeria and within three minutes, we got […]
A press briefing by the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Sanusi Lamido Sanusi was slated for 10 am that Sunday and we had to be there on time. We hurriedly took our bath and made straight to the ICC were we registered as newsmen from Nigeria and within three minutes, we got our identification cards.
One thing I noticed on our first day was the presence of security personnal, apparently, stationed to maintain law and order during the conference.
Throughout our stay, the city of Istanbul was full of activities both day and night. The locals were also very friendly and inquisitive. “Are you for the IMF/World Bank meetings? The locals always ask as soon as they see you’re ID. always willing and available to make friends. I made a friend, Ahmed, who told me more about Austin J. J. Okocha than I knew.
The ICC, venue of the meeting itself was a sight to behold. It is an architectural masterpiece that got many of us lost. There are about seven stories buildings underground and more stories buildings above with the press centre located at the basement.
Communication barrier was a serious handicap – the locals speak Turkish language. Few of them speak sparse English. I lost my way on the first day at the ICC. Earlier in the day, my colleagues left me at about 8pm but I had to stay behind to file in my stories. When I was done, there was nobody to direct me the right way to my hotel and I strolled for minutes before I decided to exit through a wing I thought was the right exit but I found myself in another part of the city. I pay $15 as taxi fare to get back to my hotel. Since then, I never lost my way.
Every wing of the ICC was well policed by the security men, who will politely show you the right way by the sign of your badge.
Istanbul was really a delight. From the way the city was planned, a stranger will easily conclude that the people don’t have a home in the sense that on every street, there is a hotel. On my hotel street, there are about 30 hotels.
Because of the number hotels, a visitor, like me, is likely conclude of that everybody in Istanbul is a stranger. There are eateries in every corner – of cause their local foods. And I wonder if the people cook at home at all. Most of us tried to get continental dishes with bare luck.
Another interesting thing about Istanbul is that most of the houses, unlike back in Nigeria, have no fence or any barrier to restrict access to them. Even the deluxe skyscrapers that dotted major streets of Istanbul have no fences.
The three-day meetings ended on Wednesday 0ctober 7. However, in a bid to savour the rich historic and cultural endowments of Turkey, an itinerary was put together for the Nigeria contingents. The tour took us to a border point between Asia and Europe divided by a river. It encloses the southern Bosporus which places the city on two continents—the western portion of Istanbul is in Europe, while the eastern portion is in Asia. No wonder Istanbul is regarded as the European Capital of Culture for 2010 by the European Union.
It is also the only Islamic country in Europe but with life-style that is more of European than Arabian.
Istanbul is also a destination for shopping spree. The most popular shopping street is located in the middle of the city. The place is alive both day and night. This is the place where I found myself in the centre of a demonstration against the IMF/World Bank on Tuesday October 6.
I did not have a premonition on the impending demonstration. I and a colleague from the Daily Independent went out at about 8am to explore the city and we saw police attempting to disperse a larger number of rioters.
A shop owner beckoned on us and when we got to his shop, he advised us to remove our badges to avoid any mob action against us. We quickly suspended our shopping plans and retired to our hotel.
“People don’t sleep here. While some people are closing others open their shops. Anytime you come there is trading”, my friend Ahmad told me.
I couldn’t buy anything from Turkey because their things are very expensive. Part of the reason for this is because of their strong currency. Their local currency is about 1.47 to a Dollar.
Because of communication gap it is very easy for a stranger to pay different amount for the same product on the same day at different times. For instance, I bought a bag for $44 which a colleague bought for $25 less than an hour earlier.
“This people are very clever. They know that we are strangers and that is why they are hiking everything,” a Nigerian contingent said. But that didn’t disturb me because I regarded my bag as a souvenir for many days to come. It is, indeed, a trip with a wonderful experience.
The trip was sponsored by the CBN.