TRAVELOGUE: Trip to Antigua – ‘Paradise’ Island, By Olusegun Odegbami

This trip, like everything else in my life, is the product of a divine ‘arrangement’. Life is not a series of ‘accidents’ of fate. Rather, events happen as enablers of unique experiences, each experience challenging every individual to draw from ‘freewill’ handed to everyone by the Universe, to be deployed as an individual’s choice of action or reaction. Individually, also, and differently, we reap what we sow.

That’s the only way I can explain this whole matter of this trip to Antigua. A few weeks ago, none of it existed on my radar. The elements constructed it.

2 days into my stay in this small island-country, from nothing, my head is already buzzing with the thought of new possibilities and new opportunities thrown up by this new totally unexpected entry into my life.

Last night, a man at the Antigua Recreation Centre where I sat, blew a red Vuvuzela intermittently. He would also intermittently, loudly and proudly shouted out for knowledge that Antigua is the best country in the world and Mr. Gaston Brown the best Prime Minister ever. He believed both. I saw it written all over his facial expression. He wanted us to believe too.

Where he sat in our midst, Mr. Gaston was happy and bemused, a gentle smile on his face, genuinely acknowledging the young man who was merely repeating what every other person that I have met and asked their opinion in the past 24 hours, also echoed.

The people, here, unabashedly love their country and PM and wear it on their sleeves. They are a friendly, gentle, courteous, humble and laid back.people, everybody, everywhere and everytime.

This was in ample demonstration during our 3-hour outing on our first night-out. Let me tell you about it.

St.John’s is one of the two sections of Antigua and Barbuda. That’s where we are staying. On our way to the recreation centre, venue of the event we were to attend, I started to take down notes.

It is a relatively small town. The streets are narrow (not even a single dual carriageway), winding like snake through undulating hills and valleys (reminds me of parts of Abeokuta in Nigeria, where no two buildings are on the same ground level); the streets are near-empty of people or traffic; vehicles are ‘right-hand-drive’ and are driving on the left side of road (British influence); residential buildings in town are small, old-fashioned, simple architecture and mostly constructed with wood.

The population of the country is about 100,000 people, and their biggest challenge is finding drinking water even though they are surrounded by sea water.
The country does not have any known mineral resource. Its major revenue source is tourism for which it has over 350 beautiful beaches, plus the resorts that service them as well as the millions of tourists that come and go all-year round in this place of endless summer-sunshine, unpolluted atmosphere and clean waters.

Antigua is designed for recreation, fun, watersports, street carnivals, and endless entertainment.

Meanwhile, there are only 20 prisoners in the country, and in the past one year, only two recorded crimes.

The country is powered by 3 giant diesel generators and electricity is 24/7. There is a giant solar farm adjacent to the VC Bird International Airport powering the services at the airport.

Several traffic lights, installed to control trsffic at junctions some years ago, have being dismantled and replaced with conventional round-abouts because the lights were actually slowing down the transition of cars. Can you believe it?

Antigua is a page from a world different from what we know in Nigerians.

I had to tell the Prime Minister that although the story of Antigua may be rooted in the gory tales of slavery that have lasted for 5 centuries, the people have now inherited, as their prize, one of the choiciest, most pristine and most beautiful corners of the earth, and are about to create a global innovative model of development for ,smart investors.

Allen Onyenma is an uncommon visionary from Nigeria. With a dual citizenship of both countries, he is leading a charge at unleashing an economic revolution and cultural renaissance movement in the land.
He brought in potential investors from Nigeria to Antigua as part of Airpeace’s inaugural flight to the region, and for a collaboration meeting between businessmen and government officials of the two countries.

Yesterday, I experienced the power in humility and simplicity. It was at the musical performance by 10 Antiguan local calypso artists competing for a prize. It was held at the Antigua Recreation centre, downtown St. John’s, a massive outdoor facility constructed to host such shows on a regularly basis, I am told.

The night was the first event in a national series marking the annual Carnival Season here – 3 days of Street partying on the Island. It was an all-night affair.

We arrived the venue early and had to wait for over an hour before the Prime Minister arrived. It was an uncommon quiet entry. No entourage of escorts and political hangers-on. No blaring of horns, or the ‘screaming’ of sirens to announce the arrival of the most powerful man in the land. His ‘long’ convoy had only two small cars! He was accompanied by his wife and a single orderly.

He met with Allen Onyema and the rest of us that had accompanied Allen to the event – several Directors of Airpeace, some senior staff of the Airline, some Nigerian government officials, and a few friends including ‘yours truly’.
The PM walked round and shook everybody’s hand. He shook the hand of one of the local stewards serving drinks and small chops in the small lounge, and even gave another a hug.

He wore the simplest and most casual of clothes – a black tee shirt, Black jeans trousers and riot-coloured sneakers. He was a regular guy.
He and Allen were a number. Allen had also come in casuals – dark jean trousers, a black face cap and a tee shirt.

Although the loud public address system did not announce his arrival, the MC’s acknowledged the PM’s presence once.

The Prime Minister partook in the drinking and small chops, served in small paper cups, with everyone, using his fingers to munch the variety of small meals of goat meat pepper-soup, french fries, spaghetti, and other small Carribean food in a stream of servings. There were also drinks – beer, Stout, wine, water, etc.

By the way, permit me to digress a little.
In the hotel where we are staying, it is an aĺl-day and part-of-the-night meal feast, an arrangement where you can ‘chop and quench’ at your peril.

Once you are a guest in the beachfront resort, you can go to the restaurant any number of times during the day to eat yourself away. Late at night you can even call for room service, the cost of these already embedded in the cost of accomodation per day. Ingenious.

For the 3 hours at the recreation centre, we sat and watched very average Live musical performances on a well-lit stage and excellent choreography of lights, sound and fireworks that made the night memorable.

The National Cultural Troupe of Nigerian dancers from Lagos also performed some Nigerian traditional dances. It was obvious they were not at their best. Tired legs from a long journey, and the long wait before they were called up to perform had taken their toll. 3 hours into the show most of us were dozing from the fatigue of jetlag and a 5-hour time difference.

We left after midnight.
The best memories for me were the unpretentious simplicity, humility and friendliness of the Prime Minister.

It was a great thing to witness.
Where I come from, it is unlikely for such to happen in a thousand years.
Tufiakwa!

All of the above is from 2 days ago. Yesterday’s will reflect in today’s posting still ‘cooking’ on the fire!!!

• Odegbami, MON,OLY, AFNIIA, FNIS is former National Football Team player