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Vast, Hot, Humid, Heartbreaking, Fascinating. These are the adjectives that come to my mind when I think of Nigeria. The date was October 1971. The Biafra War had ended a few months earlier and left a big part of the country in ruins.There was military rule still, and the country's infrastructure was chaotic.
Our final destination was Port Harcourt in the SE Rivers State. I will not show you any "urban pictures" as at the time I was too busy trying to find my way round to take any pictures. It was very difficult to find anything in P.H. in that particular period and film for cameras were a very low priority. Life was not easy for the people of Port Harcourt. One could still see the results of famine in their faces and those of the children. It was just too heart-breaking to register in a photo. Most of the pictures you will see came from the inner country ( the bush), the river Niger, some family mementos and the wonderful Nigerian Arts and Crafts both traditional and contemporary.
By the time we left, in spite of another Coup d'Etat by the Military, the country was more or less finding its feet again. We made many friends there, and I will always remember their love, their smiles and their fantastic sense of humour.
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