I had no problems whatsoever adjusting to the "new" community in Ibadan, but these first two months allowed me to see the broader picture of the nation I left five years ago. I found it different and, unfortunately, worse than I had left it. Some problems that were recurring seem to have become chronic: the distribution of electricity, the road and transport network, the scarcity of gasoline, the devaluation of the local currency, the rising cost of living, social insecurity (attacks and kidnappings), the "wild" growth of cities with immense new neighborhoods without light, roads, sewers, political and religious division that accentuates tribalism. A situation where the mass of the poor has increased and ordinary people are finding it increasingly difficult to get by.
I had the opportunity to visit the 3 works that started the Salesian presence in Nigeria (Akure, Ondo, Onitsha), which I saw come into being. It was great to see communities run completely by African confreres, all familiar faces as we have grown together over all these years. It was amazing to see adults pull up with big smiles to say hello. "Don, don't you remember me? I used to come to the Oratory. I was an altar boy. This is my wife and these are my children." Boys and girls, young men, now fathers and mothers of families raised in the spirit of Don Bosco and disseminators of the Salesian charism.
More touching was meeting the elders. They were the adults of the first hour, the foundation stones of our presences. There was no shortage of tears for the joy of seeing each other again and hearing words of gratitude for what the coming of the Salesians meant to them. Particularly moving in Akure was the visit to Bishop Francis F. Alonge, elderly and retired, he who welcomed us in 1982. Equally touching was the visit to the tomb of Fr. Gabriel Marcos Wade, the first Salesian to set foot in Nigeria and the first to leave it for heaven.
During these two months, the Ibadan Community has seen several events unfold. Interesting was the initiative on the day before Don Bosco's feast day to clean up the streets of the neighborhood to increase people's awareness of taking care of the environment and improving their sanitary conditions.
The elections were a long-awaited event; the campaign was long and heated (...) Unfortunately, once again corruption, cronyism, inefficiency got the better of us (...) Something new was there, though. The post-election reactions were more mature. The path of democracy is long and winding, proceeding in small steps...
This is the new reality in which I am immersed. I am very well; I am busy and time has taken its unstoppable pace.
