Oh Mighty Nigeria, Go to Tiny Vanuatu and Learn Wisdom, Discipline, Organisation, Order and Contentment!

What is it that lies at the other end of such a long trip to make any sane man become oblivious to the risk involved by flying across countless streams, rivers and rivulets, seas and tributaries, vast bodies of water called ocean, deserts and swamps, mountains and hills and countries and continents in order to […]

What is it that lies at the other end of such a long trip to make any sane man become oblivious to the risk involved by flying across countless streams, rivers and rivulets, seas and tributaries, vast bodies of water called ocean, deserts and swamps, mountains and hills and countries and continents in order to get?. What passion is it that would drive a man to leave the comfort of his home and the security offered by his country to fly such a long distance to reach what in all honesty should be called the ends of the earth? For apart from fellow islanders like Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Tonga and countries like Australia and New Zealand, Vanuatu is near the end of the earth because it is far from almost every other part of the world; it is distant from Europe, far from Asia, farther away from Africa and farthest from the Americas by any means of transport known to man. There is no one I know of who travelled to that country and back to his base who didn’t complain that he or she did not suffer a breakdown for a few days because of the sheer distance of the journey.

 

What took me to such a way out of the world destination? Was I in search of business, pleasure or to satisfy mere curiosity? Unlike Odysseus, the hero of the  Greek classic epic, Odyssey, who undertook his own long journey in pursuit of the Golden Fleece, the objective of my sojourn was to cover the 95th session of the ACP Council of Ministers which held in the capital city of that country, Port Vila,  from June 11-15.

Faithful readers of this writer would recall an earlier account of the conversation I had with myself over my then impending  trip to Vanuatu as I was nearly dissuaded from going on this journey by a rather unflattering account of the country by Wikipedia, the internet dictionary.(See my piece entitled ‘’Going to Vanuatu: Conversation with myself before a long Journey: How Wikipedia, the Internet Dictionary, nearly Stopped me from visiting the Enchanting Vanuatu Republic’’, published in last week’s edition  of this paper). I had related how I had sought to gain some intelligence about this little known country from Wikipedia. But instead of whetting my curiosity to wish to go and learn more about Vanuatu, the entry said a lot of frightening things about this country. Wikipedia talked about how Vanuatu was prone to volcanic activities; how it was a dirt poor country with very little economic resources; how some of its peoples still live a near Stone Age form of life and many other unpalatable things about this country which seemed calculated to dampen the enthusiasm of even the most ardent of adventurous souls from contemplating a visit to that country for any reason. From what Wikipedia said, only a dogged soul like yours sincerely would refuse to be dissuaded.

The spirit of faith and doggedness propelled me to Vanuatu and back. Having gone and seen things for myself, what is my impression of the country and its people? Is my view of the place in agreement with the account of it rendered in Wikipedia? Is it possibly a dangerous and an unrewarding place to visit and perhaps think of living in for any length of time? Do people live a sub-human existence in that place or can life there be a richly fulfilling one? Does the country have one or two things to teach a country like Nigeria? These were some of the questions I armed myself with the moment I made up my mind that I will undertake the Vanuatu trip irrespective of the forbidding distance to cover and the rather fearful things said about it.

There is no doubt about it that Vanuatu is a small, poor and insignificant country as seen even in its capital Port Vila. Neither its roads nor the vehicles on them nor its houses betray opulence. As to be expected of an island nation, the people seem hemmed in, visibly fighting for space to live a more expansive life. Their dwelling places are modest. You never find the kind of ‘’befitting edifices’’ which the powerful and rich in Nigeria build to provide a dwelling for their often scanty family members.

The story of Vanuatu is, however, the story of the triumph of wisdom, discipline, order, and organisation over natural disadvantages. Like many small, poor and vulnerable island states either in the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific oceans and in the Caribbean and Mediterranean Seas, Vanuatu can be said to exist against all odds.  And one cannot help but wonder why anyone mooted the idea of coming to settle in such a place in the first place and having decided to settle there and found the place to be so challenging, if not inhospitable, why they did not decide to move to somewhere else more conducive to human habitation. Was the decision of the original settlers in this place a case of triumph of hope over reality?

The business that took me to this country did not give me any time to go to other parts of this country that is said to have 100 islands, 110 languages and 12 provinces. My impression of the country is therefore coloured by what I saw of its capital city, Port Vila, which has a population of about 45, 000 persons, about the size of a local government area in Nigeria. More specifically, I was limited to the island of Effate which is the federal capital territory of that country. In fact, a governor of a state in Nigeria controls more people and more resources and more opportunities than the entire country called Vanuatu.

Vanuatu is in the western South Pacific, north of New Caledonia and west of Fiji. To give direction to anyone who has not heard of this country before and who therefore cannot locate it on the map of the world, it is off Australia and off New Zealand. Cartographers describe the country as an archipelago of over 100 islands, scattered over the Pacific Ocean in a Y shape.

Though about a hundred times less in size than Nigeria, but very much like our country, Vanuatu is a land of great diversity. Its population consists mainly of the indigenous Melanesian people who are themselves a mixture of white-looking and black-looking people.  The rest of the Vanuatu population comprises Europeans, reflecting the colonial heritage. It had a dual colonial heritage; it was colonised by both the English and French. Vanuatu also has Vietnamese from the days of indentured labourers; Chinese and other Pacific Islanders. Most of the country’s retail outfits are dominated by Chinese, or more accurately Asiatic looking, people. It has little or no industrial base to talk of.

According to the 2009 population census, Vanuatu has a population of 234,023 consisting of 119,091 males and114, 932 females, which means she has more males than females.

Because of Vanuatu’s dual colonial heritage, both English and French are the official languages, along with Bislama, a pidgin language, based on English, that is understood by almost everyone. There are also 115 local languages. As to be expected because of its colonial origin, it has a very a strong Christian heritage, though some tribes still practice their ancient animistic religion.

This country is said to have been in existence in the past 22 million years. As indicated a while ago, the people are not Europeans and they are not Blacks and they are not Asians. But they are a mixture of all these.  In our unique way of describing such things in Nigeria, they are a people who are ‘’a quarter to European and Asians but half past Blacks’’! The people are called Melanesians a mixture of Black, Asian and European blood. Most Melanesians are solidly built like armoured tanks with skin colour varying from white to brown and to light black, reflecting of course their alchemy.

From where did some of them possibly get their black blood and skin seeing that they are so far away from Africa? Some historians and sociologists speculate that they derived it from the black people of the Western Pacific with links to Papuans and Australian Aborigines. But a new angle to the Black origin of the Vanuatu people was provided when in his welcome remarks during the opening ceremony of the 95th session of the ACP Council of Ministers, the ACP Secretary-General, Dr. Mohamed Ibn Chambas, said as follows: ‘’I have been told that the name ‘Vanuatu’ means, ‘’The  Eternal Land’’ ‘’Our Land’’. He continues: ‘’It is instructive that in one of the native languages of Mozambique, Vanuatu means ‘’My Land’’. Could there be a link between the peoples of Vanuatu and the peoples of Mozambique or the East Coast of Africa?’’ he asked.

I had read somewhere before that in a wave of migration that should truly astonish modern man, some blacks from the east coast of Africa in places that are today countries of Mozambique, Tanzania, Kenya and the rest, left and have now formed what are now the indigenous communities of the Pacific island countries. What is however amazing is that the few Vanuatuans that I spoke to appear not to know of their possible African ancestry. Yet, in many ways, a lot in their culture is of African origin.

In spite of millions of years of socialisation with Europeans and Asians who came to the island as indentured labourers in the days of colonial rule, Vanuatu music and dances, way of worship, attitude to people and what is generally summarised as the culture of a people, bear distinctive African stamp. I saw this clearly on the day of the opening ceremony of both the ACP Council of Ministers and the ACP-EU Council of Ministers when dance and music groups from all the islands that make up this nation came together to showcase their culture.

Even we Africans who have been socialised to be poor imitation of Europeans would blush at some of these Vanuatuan groups who came dressed in what looked like raffia fronds, exposing their bare buttocks and barely covering their fronts for the ogling of the distinguished assembly of the world, a display we can no longer find even in the remotest parts of mainland Africa.

In some ways, Vanuatu is way behind us but in many others, she is far ahead of us. At least from the capital city, you can see order, discipline, organisation and an indication that a government is in existence. In most parts of Africa, governments have taken a French leave. You do not see them on duty or showing that they have a responsibility to the people.

Because of the country’s uneven topography and the size of its population, the people of Vanuatu DECIDED that their means of transport would be buses, taxis and four-wheel drives. Articulated trucks and other heavy duty vehicles, which are clearly unsuitable for this terrain, are never found here. That is what I call wisdom which is applied in thinking and planning in order to have a society that is liveable. In Nigeria, in spite of our population, in spite of the quantum of resources available to us and in spite of our generally good physical features, we lack the sense to decide that we must construct good roads and have railways to carry our large population from one place to another.

Our roads are poorly constructed and sooner or later become impassable in many places, yet we allow heavy duty trucks, which are hardly ever maintained, to ply these dangerous death traps. The result:  road accidents in which thousands of citizens and foreigners alike are killed yearly have become so common place that they are now the number two cause of massive death in Nigeria after malaria.

What I admire so much in the Vanuatuans is their obvious show of contentment. They wear happiness and contentment on their faces. They do not look like a people defeated by the harshness, poverty and the restrictiveness of their environment. They are not angry with God for their dire circumstances and never do you hear Vanuatuans forever murmuring and complaining, as we love to do here, about government’s failings and striving to have more by hook or crook means.

In the manner in which the Bible urges foolish man to go and learn wisdom from the ants, I today urge mighty Nigerians to go and learn wisdom, discipline, order and a sense of organisation from tiny Vanuatuans. We may have everything that should conduce our society to good life and Godliness, but we lack the common sense to do so. In that, the Vanuatuans are superior to us. We are prone to waste and poor management of our resources. We need to learn how a people deliberately use wisdom to conquer a harsh land which has pleased God to locate them in and make it a place fit for the realisation of their dream to live.

This is a place that has no known natural resource of strategic value that brings in plenty of money like crude oil does for Nigeria. Rather, she depends on a crop called kava, whose export has, unfortunately, been banned by the European Union because its product, an alcoholic drink, has a mind-bending effect. This ban is already having a very negative impact on the economy of this vulnerable island country that is so distant from just any part of the world except its fellow Pacific islanders. The ban has worsened the unemployment situation of the country as thousands of farmers earn their keep from the cultivation of this national crop.

Vanuatu also relies a great deal on tourism. Businessmen mostly from Australia, New Zealand and other European countries have built hotels, resorts and motels that are patronised by tourists from all over the world. Being a tourist destination country perhaps, helps to explain why the people of Vanuatu have so thoroughly mastered the art and act of being nice to people, especially visitors. The people are polite, courteous, honest and such a real joy to be with. They have such wonderful human relations techniques and appear so incapable of offending anyone so much so that I was compelled to ask a journalist colleague if there is ever anyone with a vexatious spirit in the entire country.

In spite of the obvious economic challenge which the people face, they are not unduly aggressive in the pursuit of money as is the case in our country. The people are disciplined, orderly and very, very contented. I keep repeating this because it is the absence of these virtues that has made our country which should be a paradise on earth to be what she is today- a land which is unable to fulfil its full potential.  Crime rate is low. I learnt later that a few years back, Vanuatuans won the award of being the happiest people on earth, the same recognition Nigerians too got a few years ago. But that is where the similarity between Ni Vanuatu (the affectionate name Vanuatuans call themselves similar to the word Naija which the younger generation have invented to describe us.

Nigerians are loud, aggressive, and disorderly, and now it must be added, bound to needless violence. Vanuatu secretaries, door men, waiters, gatemen and security men and women and other service people who don’t usually earn much are not in any way beggarly as their Nigerian counterparts who embarrass visitors and others who have something to do with the place where they work, by openly soliciting for a dash. Vanuatuans carry themselves with dignity and self respect. They are forever willing to help anyone who asks for help and very alive to their duties and responsibilities.

Well, dear Mr Idang Alibi, you have painted such a glowing picture of Vanuatu. If it is all you have said it is, why didn’t you remain there? someone may ask cynically. My answer is that I came back because home is home and my assignment is here. If not, Vanuatu is it: it is small but beautiful and liveable where things work and life is simple and safe.