Internship report

„Are you from another world...“? Yeah, you are if you travel to Nigeria as a white European. Everything is just very different and the picture becomes clearer with a bit of temporal distance. Before I got there I was confronted with a lot of prejudice against Nigeria and Africa in general. I myself didn’t know much at all about the country I was going to visit. So I lacked assumptions, misconceptions, and false expectations to the greatest extent. That was the best way to get engaged in the IAESTE internship.
Things can be just so overwhelming that writing about them won’t ever be sufficient to convey the feeling of what you experienced. It was great, amusing, astonishing, frightening, and unique all at the same time. Right from the moment you exit the aircraft, you know that things work different. People look at you, they talk to you. People are laid-back, but the same people are also part of a big crowd in a rushing city, where everyone fights for themselves. Leaving the airport I immersed in “Lagos traffic”. This term should be in the dictionary! It’s incomparable to any city’s traffic I ever experienced. Traffic, is loud, sometimes fast, usually slow, often in standstill, everyone is pushing and cutting corners where ever possible. Potholes and rain contribute to the slowing of traffic. And if you take traffic as a metaphor for Nigerian society, economy, and way of life, you are not that far wrong!
Leaving the mega city Lagos (aprox. 20 mio. inhabitants), I spent my time in Benin City (2.5 – 3 mio. people). My internship was offered in the Technology Incubation Centre where they were looking for a biochemistry student. Since all my qualifications fit I applied and luckily got the position. My start of work was directly delayed for a few days offering me the opportunity to get acquainted with the surroundings and when I started I was working in a paint production. Wall paints, for inside and outside, with granules and without, more than 30 different colours. It was exhausting and tough work for the body. The young workers are risking their health a lot when e.g. carrying 50 kg bags on their own. The paint production is highly depending on power supply and a rhythm of three hours of work (if everything worked fine) and three hours of break came into place. Only little preparations for working steps that need electricity were performed, but since the lifting itself is strenuous, I cannot complain about break. Still, I wanted to broaden my experience. I was allowed to jump into another unit, where we produced soy milk powder and soy meal powder. In that unit there was always some work to do. The soy production though involved only manual work from washing, selecting, drying, and toasting of the beans to milling, sieving, and packaging the powder.
I also had the chance to take a look into a third unit, where dish washing liquid and laundry cleanser is produced. This, involving the handling of chemicals, came closest to my field of study. Producing soap can be a lot of fun, and unlike the former two, it’s not a dirty job at all, only slippery on the hands sometimes. I even got an insight into the distribution of the product which was very nice. We went around the city to visit stores and retailers to check whether the product is still in stock and to inform them about ascending prices. Nigeria is currently in a time of economic depression. The country is highly dependent on import wares and inland economy focuses mainly on crude oil production. Still, the produce called Orys is exported not only to neighbouring countries but also to Canada and Japan.
All in all the working experience was very enlightening. I understood a lot about the society and economy of the country. Despite the economic hardship, there are a lot of people with dreams and plans for the future. Though, I am afraid that the younger generations will have their troubles in this ever changing world with open markets and competitors from all over the globe.
With quite some free time at hand I got the chance to enjoy Nigeria a lot. One would think that the people that are only working a little would get creative or productive otherwise, but that is usually not the case. Without being rich, many people see money when they see fair skin. This is the biggest bias people have against people of white colour and it might be true in their eyes. Even wealthy Nigerians did not necessarily travel by plane if that might be a measure of living standard. Without feeling rich, I had the chance to see some nice places around the south of Nigeria. The first trip led us to Ubiaja a village in the north of Benin City where we were guest of two funerals which just turned out to be huge parties with a lot of traditional rites and dances and costumes. Later it became an open air dance floor for young people which was very enjoyable. An experience one of a kind with so many details it would go beyond the scope here.
Experiencing Benin City was a great adventure itself, because it involved so much “day to day normal Nigerian life”. And again, everything is incomparably different to what I knew before and this way incredibly exciting and interesting. I am very glad that I got the opportunity to play volleyball with natives at the university, which has just always been a highlight for me.
For a weekend we went to Lagos by car to see some of the city, the beach, and visit the university. The city is buzzing and thankfully we could stay at a friend’s place from our supervisor. Unfortunately, we neither saw much of the city nor the beach. Anyways, our supervisor took us to Asaba to visit the birthday party of a small kid which was awesome to see because it was celebrated hugely including a DJ and a bouncy castle :)
Certainly, one of the best trips and probably things to see in southern Nigeria are the Idanre Hills, Inselbergs that have been inhabited for centuries and are still venue for traditional gatherings and rites such as annual sacrifications for the local reign. Towards the end of my stay I had the once-in-a- life-time-chance to witness the coronation of the 40th Oba of Benin kingdom, one of the oldest kingdoms in the world. The weeks long festivities where a big street party that brought out all of the people of Benin to congratulate the new king and wish him well. The ceremony received international guests and ceremonial rulers from other parts of Nigeria including the spiritual leader of Sokoto a mostly Muslim state further north. This visit and congratulations summon the much needed unity of the Nigerian people which is characterized by social, educational, and ethnic disagreements.
An important note I would like to give every visitor to the tropic Africa: I talked to another intern that did the exact same internship and lived in the same flat and also to an expert in the centre for tropical diseases in Berlin. Both told me that I don’t necessarily need malaria prophylaxis. I can only advise to invest the money and get the tablets. The best value though is to buy it locally, but then again compatibility testing might be limited. Since I had malaria during my time in Nigeria I can tell that it is to avoid if possible, because it makes you feel miserable. Even though I was told there would be mosquito nets everywhere around the flat and I didn’t need to bring any additionally, there were mosquitos in the flat as well – always.
For further information please refer to my blog I led during my great experience:
In German: https://hannesout.wordpress.com/
In English: https://hannesng.wordpress.com/