Here in Lagos
Here in Lagos, a city forever out of control, Femi and I have managed to organise our lives through this past year so they’re as close as possible to exactly how we want them. Not easy in such a shambolic place, the antithesis of the Oz I left a couple of years ago to explore the world. But, after our initial struggle, work and life here have somewhat settled down. Or that’s what we thought. Until I got this bloody email!
“Femi, take a look at this!”
We were in the Bristol Hotel, Friday lunchtime, drinking cold Star beers, waiting for Modupe (mo-doo-pay) to join us before ordering our lunch.
Femi, as you might guess from his name, is a local, born in Benin City, from where those magnificent British Museum bronzes were, let’s politely say, souvenired back in 1897. He earned his engineering degree in London. His dad, his elder brothers and two uncles in Nigeria all put in to meet his fees and expenses, so when we arrived together in Lagos twelve months or so ago, he…
Madam: Archbishop Fisher (July-August 2024) does not resist the attacks on his church by the political, social or scientific atheists and those who insist on not being told what to do.
Aug 29 2024
6 mins
To claim Aborigines have the world's oldest continuous culture is to misunderstand the meaning of culture, which continuously changes over time and location. For a culture not to change over time would be a reproach and certainly not a cause for celebration, for it would indicate that there had been no capacity to adapt. Clearly this has not been the case
Aug 20 2024
23 mins
A friend and longtime supporter of Quadrant, Clive James sent us a poem in 2010, which we published in our December issue. Like the Taronga Park Aquarium he recalls in its 'mocked-up sandstone cave' it's not to be forgotten
Aug 16 2024
2 mins