Five days ago made it exactly seven years that I was introduced to something I found strange. Everyone across cities in the United States experienced this again on November 3. They had to set their clocks back by one hour. It is called daylight saving time. A state like Texas, which had six hours’ time difference with Nigeria, now has seven hours. Baltimore, which had five hours times’ difference with Nigeria, now has six hours. Amazing!
I was new to America then. Although it was not my first trip, it was the first time I went to more than one city. I went to five in 10 days. I had been to New York before then.
Once upon a time, Janesville was a stranger to me. So was Milwaukee. And Madison I could barely say I knew much about, save for Wisconsin University, which occupies a sizeable portion of its architecturally beautiful landscape. I first heard of the university reading through the resume of the late MEE Mofe-Damijo.
In November 2012, these United States cities joined the list of cities I have ‘conquered’. So were Washington DC and Chicago, which I had read about in books, seen in movies, felt in poetry and experienced in news reports.
I traversed these five American cities in the course of tracking and reporting the election which gave President Barack Hussein Obama a second term in office.
Hurricane Sandy almost aborted the trip. It ate into the days I was supposed to stay in Washington DC and made me miss a tour of the Capitol Hill.
I was in DC on time to see the great Newseum, a museum for news matters, where we saw the history of the media on display. Great Pulitzer Prize pictures, some pieces of the Berlin Wall, the first Outside Broadcasting Van ever, images of fantastic moments in Obama’s life, a mangled piece of antenna mast which stood atop the North Tower of the World Trade Centre and lots more have found space in this large edifice.
Washington cut and still cuts the image of a befitting capital for a great nation of diverse people. Skyscrapers, well-laid out road network and all stare you in the face. I thought Washington was cold until we got to Madison, where I rushed into a souvenir store and bought hand gloves that barely helped me for $14. I later bought a bigger one for $5 in Milwaukee.
Here it was that I started wearing five clothes: a sweater as underwear, a shirt, another sweater, a jacket and then a suit.
Madison, which has a beautiful lake, is nothing like DC. This capital of Wisconsin is a simple city. It has some storey buildings which I honestly cannot call skyscrapers. Its road networks are superb. Its university is a definition of a conducive environment to learn. Its hotels tower into the sky moderately. Its beauty is not in doubt and its place in American politics was evident in Obama not ignoring it during his campaigns. Milwaukee is no so different from Madison. The two cities in Wisconsin State share the same weather and architectural look. Milwaukee is home to a lot of industries and large scale farms. Obama was there to campaign.
If Madison is simple, Janesville is simpler. This city of less than 70,000 people cuts the image of a closely-knit neighbourhood, where neighbours know one another. It is home to The Janesville Gazette, which has published for decades. A colleague, who works there, Frank Schultz, met with a team of visiting reporters from Africa at a Chinese restaurant, which has occupied that same space for 90 years. The waiter who attended to us had worked there for 20 years.
Janesville’s most popular resident is Paul Ryan, Mitt Romney’s running mate in his failed bid to unseat Obama. At the time we visited, Ryan’s blue mansion was in the firm grip of Secret Service agents, who had cordoned off streets leading to the place. This is done for every potential president and vice-president. A neighbour, who we met at an Obama for America’s vote canvassing event, said she was looking forward to the agents loosening grip on the area once Romney’s dream crashed.
The agents said we could take picture of the house, but from a distance. One of our hosts, Andy Strike, found it amazing that journalists had to see the house from a distance, while others could move closer.
The craziest of them all is Chicago. There is nothing simple at all about this city, which is home to several universities, including the University of Chicago and Illinois University at Chicago.
The hotels here are almost uncountable. It reminds me so much of New York, with its skyscrapers, rail system and road networks that can sometimes get locked down.
This city has a reputation for crime and corruption. A Professor at the Illinois University at Chicago, Dick Simpson, told us the reputation is not exaggerated. He gave facts and figures to back his claim. The then Executive Director of Chicago Board of Ethics, Steven Berlin, also urged us to watch our pockets closely so as not to lose valuables to thieves.
Then we met Dr. Wayne Gordon and Kimberlie Jackson of the 25-year-old Lawndale Christian Development Corporation who told us crime was a major headache in their community, filled with architectures dating back to centuries. The corporation, founded by a white man of God, was working with the Chicago Police to curb crime in this largely black neigbourhood.
The community also hosts the home where the late Martin Luther King Jr. lived with his family when he came to Chicago from Atlanta. The house, which was destroyed during a riot, has now been turned into apartments named after King and will be up for rent soon.
The Illinois University at Chicago, built in the 1960s, hosts a chunk of Sierra Leonian history, especially on slave trade. They are on display at the Richard Daley Library, named after a late mayor of the city. These documents, including letters written by pro and anti-slavery individuals, said Simpson, who heads the university’s Political Science Department, existed nowhere else.
Chicago, which is Obama’s home, is in a state rated the third most corrupt in U.S. According to Simpson, most government officials convicted by the Federal Government have been from the city. A former governor of Illinois, who is from the city, is in jail for trying to sell the Senate seat Obama vacated to become president.
Chicago brought New York to my mind. Yes, with its street musicians and men in need of help. How can I forget those men bearing placards saying they were homeless, jobless and in need of help? How can I not remember that man in the traffic gridlock holding a placard begging for assistance? How can I forget how so much it reminded me of those scenes back home?
But, if you look beyond Chicago’s crazy sides, it is a place to be. It has succeeded in moving beyond the Al Capone era. The other four cities are also good. For people who hate boredom, Janesville, Milwaukee and Madison, all in Wisconsin State, may prove frustrating to live in. These cities’ airports, Dulles in Washington, DC Reagan Washington National Airport, O’Hare in Chicago and Dane County Regional Airport in Madison, are good examples of functionality.
Over the years, I have had the privilege of also being to Houston, Baltimore and Atlanta and in all of them I see a nation, which has sold itself as paradise on earth.
But, wait for this before you pack your bags: if you cannot stand cold, stay away from these cities. Temperature can drop to zero or below at some points. Even when you see sun, it does not mean cold will run.
My final take: Nigeria does not have America’s history but we have the potential to be more than we are. We should be running and not crawling like a baby who is just learning to move. Let us run and whoever falls by the wayside should be left to find his or her way.
‘ Nigeria does not have America’s history but we have the potential to be more than we are. We should be running and not crawling like a baby who is just learning to move. Let us run and whoever falls by the wayside should be left to find his or her way ’