Ibrahim Apekhade Yusuf, who was on a recent visit to Kigali, Rwanda, shares fond memories of how the citizens of the hitherto war-torn East African country have been able to get their lives back on an even keel.
THE thick baritone of the pilot from the cockpit announcing the safe arrival of our flight to Kigali International Airport jolted me from the short nap as my blurry eyes tried to adjust to the lights outside gradually before our plane taxied on the runway. It was exactly 9:30 pm local time.
The first thing I noticed as we stepped out of the aircraft was the sheer simplicity of the airport facility. It a very simple architecture but it was classy all the same.
Truly, simplicity is indeed bliss in Kigali, the capital city of Paul Kagame and Rwanda, a country of over 12 million, where life is back on an even keel after the genocide wars which decimated hundreds of thousands of lives exactly 25 years ago.
As we moved into the airport to get our visa since we opted for visas on arrival, nothing actually prepared one for the warmth and hospitality that greeted us as the four young immigration officers, sitting in a straight row at the arrival lounge briskly attended to us.
From there, we moved farther down to retrieve our luggage from the carrousel and straight into the warm embrace of our tour guide, who simply gave his name as Benjamin. Now, the guide was something of a tourist attraction of some sort. His outward appearance, to say the least, had a verisimilitude with a typical Tiv man from Benue state. He was attired in a white shirt which he tucked under a flowing garment made of black and white stripes wound across his shoulders to form a crisscross complete with a black bowler hat. Benjamin, who was in the company of a fellow he simply identified as Innocent, and who dressed in a navy-blue suit without a tie smiled his greetings as they both chorused, “We’re here to pick you, Sir.”
Yours sincerely, along with colleagues from Nigeria, including Christie Cole of CNBC Africa, a Ghanaian journalist named Richard Mensah, all chauffeur-driven to Golden Tulip La Palisse Kigali Hotel, along Bugesera Road, Nyamata, were among the 72 delegates drawn from across 22 African countries attending a week-long workshop organised by the African Tax Administration Forum (ATAF), South Africa, in collaboration with the Rwanda Revenue Authority (RRA) to discuss emerging tax issues seriously affecting the continent’s socio-economic development.
THE almost one-hour commute from the airport to our hotel was as interesting as it was fulfilling as Benjamin, who indeed proved to be a good host, engaged us in random banalities to sometimes serious issues which cut at the nerve of the discussion.
“Rwanda is a fine but small country. All of us Rwandese today have one common goal and that is to live as brothers and sisters. We don’t discriminate against any tribe anymore. In fact, it is illegal to talk about ethnicity,” he crooned, in perfect Queens English.
That sounded very reassuring because the much one knew about Rwanda were stories and movies, especially Hotel Rwanda, which captured the internecine wars induced by ethic conflagration.
BETWEEN April and June 1994, an estimated 800,000 Rwandans were killed in the space of 100 days, with a majority of the casualties Tutsis – and most of those who perpetrated the violence were Hutus.
The genocide was sparked by the death of the Rwandan President Juvenal Habyarimana, a Hutu, when his plane was shot down above Kigali airport on 6 April 1994
.
A French judge blamed current Rwandan President, Paul Kagame – at the time the leader of a Tutsi rebel group – and some of his close associates for carrying out the rocket attack, a claim Kagame vehemently denies, saying it was the work of Hutu extremists, in order to provide a pretext to carry out their well-laid plans to exterminate the Tutsi community.
Of course, a visit to the Kigali Genocide Memorial along with KG 14 Ave, Kigali, Rwanda, brings back not-so-pleasant memories of the pogrom. The place commemorates the 1994 Rwandan genocide, where the remains of over 250,000 people are interred.
Interestingly, President Kagame, largely described as a benevolent dictator ready to live by the same standard he’s expecting from his people, has been hailed for transforming the tiny, devastated country he took over through policies that encouraged rapid economic growth.
LISTENING in part to Benjamin’s treatise about how his country has evolved in a way almost unimaginable, I drank in the scenic beauty of the famous city on a thousand hills as the vehicle sped past boulevards, orchards, excellent road networks, whose aesthetics were further enhanced by solar-powered electricity as we later found out.
“There is light everywhere. This is great. It makes driving really interesting in the night,” I said rather patronizingly, just so as to get more revelations from our guide.
“Yes, we have constant electricity here. If the light goes off, it’s back in five minutes,” he said, matter-of-factly.
This sounded too good to be true, me and Christie thought to ourselves. As if reading our minds, Benjamin, retorted almost sympathetically, “I know you guys have a problem with NEPA in Nigeria. We read about these things in the papers.” Meaning to stretch the conversation further, he asked what was a rather innocuous question, “But why haven’t you guys been able to fix the problem of electricity in your country until now?”
Not willing to admit the obvious, and since the joke was on us, Christie and I just laughed it off.
AFTER getting to the hotel and with a promise to explore the town before our departure, we each said our adieus to Benjamin before retiring to our rooms to the comfort of our beds, of course, after accepting a welcome drink by the hotel management.
IN my quest to get a better perspective on how the once-ravaged country became so transformed to the envy of other countries within the African continent, I sought to speak with Aimable Kayigi Habiyambere, the Commissioner for Domestic Taxes at the Rwanda Revenue Authority (RRA) when the opportunity presented itself on the sidelines of the workshop and the latter was gracious enough to oblige me.
I wanted to know what has changed since the end of genocide wars 25 years ago and how they did the magic.
His responses were plausible as they were engaging.
“We fought the genocide crisis. I actually attribute the successes we have had in my understanding to two factors,” he began.
Good leadership, he observed, played a very big role. “This country has at the highest level a leader that is really a visionary, President Paul Kagame. He did a lot for this country. Secondly, I also believe that even Rwandans themselves played a very big role by virtue of the kind of leadership they have had over the years since the genocide. They knew also that they went through a very bad history, they were the ones that suffered and they are the ones to suffer the consequences of the genocide.
It was a very strong lesson that they got in their lives they believed that they had to work very hard and listen to their leadership in order to overcome the number of challenges the country was facing and is still facing. So I would attribute as I said the successes thus far to the leadership and the resolve of our people.”
According to the taxman, the standard of living in Rwanda is fair. The government is seriously working on alleviating the sufferings of the less privileged in society through a number of relief programmes being put in place for their benefit.
“We have a system of doing things in Rwanda. For instance, we group people into different categories and such categories determine where they fall in terms of enjoying benefits from the government. We have got four bands. The first band is where all the poor people fall into. These people are allowed to access a number of services completely free of charge by the government. They are entitled to free health facilities, access to education even those in advance age and no longer receiving pensions; they get monthly cash allowances being paid by the government which ranges from 30000 Franc.”
Besides, there is a second band for basically those who are not poor but also not categorised as rich. For those ones, they can afford for themselves a number of services but there are other services that are provided for them by the government, he said.
“However, there is general insurance for every Rwandan in the second band. They pay about 3,000 Rwanda francs on annual basis. That gives them access to all health facilities.
“So if you go there you are treated and you have to show your card. So they do access a number of services. The third band is the middle-income earners. For those ones, they are the ones considered to be earning some income like those doing business as employees of private or government establishments. So they do pay for their own insurance. The fourth category now is the rich people. These ones are charged a lot. They do contribute even to support the poor. They pay about 15-25 per cent of their earnings.”
RWANDA’S Gross Domestic Product (GDP) at current market prices was estimated to be Frw 8,189 billion in 2018, up from Frw 7,600 billion in 2017, meaning a 8.6 percent growth in real terms compared to 2017, the National Institute of Statistics (NISR) stated in its recent report. The services sector contributed 48 percent of the GDP with the agriculture sector contributing 29 percent, the industry sector 16 percent while 7 percent was attributed to adjustment for taxes with fewer subsidies on products.
Rwanda, though a tiny country looks good to becoming a role model in Africa on all counts. In the area of technology, it has scored a lot of firsts. Rwanda launched the first-ever Satellite in its skies to connect schools with the internet across the remote parts of the country.
The Satellites would add to the already existing knowledge-based economy on improving decision making in sectors such as telecommunication, agriculture, navigation, national security, disaster and several other domains that it could contribute to on a larger scale.
In the 2018 annual Global Gender Gap Report published by the World Economic Forum, Rwanda was listed among the top five countries that promote female advancement. It is the only country within the continent of Africa where 50 per cent of the cabinets are women with many youth populations in government positions.
On the eve of our departure, yours sincerely in the company of Christie, the selfie freak in our midst who couldn’t contain her excitements practically railroaded Ola Falade (another journalist from Nigeria), and me to take photo-shoots in unlikely places including hills, walkways, and wait for this by the gutters! Yes, you heard me right, by the drainage. But the only thing is the drainages hardly look like the typical ones elsewhere, in Nigeria especially.
At the Rwanda suburb, in Bugesera, the streets looked sparkly clean so much that you could even eat beside the gutters. We actually sat on a pavement housing the drainage and it felt like we were in our bedroom.
It was so comfy, you almost felt like you were in a lounge in one of those exotic places.
No putrid smell, offensive odours. Nothing. Rwandans have really tried. You can tell they have got their country back. I’m proud of that country. I wish l could say that about my country Nigeria.
One way the country has been able to maintain such a clean environment is due in part to some far-reaching policies like the ban on the use of plastic bags and bottles in place of paper bags.
When we visited some of the markets around Bugesera, we saw waste bins strategically placed in different locations with warning inscriptions for people to maintain proper hygiene in public places.
Even the bike riders maintain such orderliness very alien to other climes like Nigeria. Unlike Nigeria, whereas many as four passengers including the rider can mount a single motorcycle, here it is one passenger to a rider and both must wear a helmet as a rule. Nobody dares flout that simple order.
Wait for this even Nigerians who live in Rwanda know better than to go against the laws of the land.
Although I didn’t get to meet any Nigerian in person, because of limited time, I was told by my host that a lot of them have families here, some serving as missionary pastors, and many others doing legit business. So far there has been no unpleasant tales about Nigerians based in Rwanda. That’s cheery news indeed.
Enter Naija Peperdem gang
TO say Nigerian music and movies rock the airwaves everywhere is not a vacuous pontification after all. This truth was self-evident in Kigali, where this reporter saw in firsthand the craze for Nigerian musicians, a cult following if you like.
For the almost one-week stay, we were treated to what you could safely describe as an unprecedented doze of merriment, Naija style. I literally ‘enjoyed the life of my head’ as Nigerians are wont to say in street lingo.
Sorry, I almost jumped the gun! Let me begin from the very beginning (no pun is
intended).
As I recalled earlier, we were delegates at a talk shop trying to unpack everything around taxation, a subject matter majority of the participants considered rather too obtuse and a complete hard sell, after a few days. So, naturally, inertia began to set in.
For the adventurous ones amongst us, (I won’t name names) they quietly stole out of our hall of residence to only God knows where to catch some bits of fun just to kill boredom.
The rest of the majority, including yours sincerely, just decided to go through the motions no matter what.
It was, therefore, something of a surprise of sorts when our self-appointed chaperon and welfare officer, Ms Fiona Marwa, a very delectable Ugandan lady (I call her the tallest woman in Africa standing at 6’9 feet tall) announced to the admiration of all that there was going to be a cocktail party later that evening. Naturally, the news was greeted with lots of excitement from all and sundry.
In fact, a colleague from one of the neighbouring African countries who was also on that trip, I can’t exactly remember his name right now, did remarked somewhat excitedly to the news thus, “Now I believe in the dictum that says, ‘Good things really come to those who wait.’”
I couldn’t agree less.
IT was meant to be a cocktail party alright with guests mingling throughout the evening while being served hors d’oeuvres, small chops snacks and what have you, so we thought. But we ended up having a soiree, yes a big bash! I tell you, what we were treated to was a live extravaganza featuring a host of stars from local performances, pantomimes, dances and music capped with lots of food and booze to go with it. It couldn’t have been done any better.
EVIDENCE that we were in for a swell time on this particular evening was all too apparent as guests sauntered into the venue of the rendezvous, which was at the cozy garden of the Golden Tulip La Palisse Hotels, Nyamata, where the stage was already set. The ambience, so glam and grand with the right lightening effects to boot, had all the trappings of a Karaoke night what with El Pedro, a seven-man live band from Rwanda welcoming guests with soul-serenading tunes from country music, hip-hop, reggae, among other genres of music.
As to be expected, the guests, I mean individuals who came in groups of twos, threes and fours sashayed into the fun spot with excitements written all over their faces as they took turns to get light refreshments having been warmly received by one of the hosts, Ms Gloria Benimana, a lady with the looks and height of a model and also a Media Officer at the Rwanda Revenue Authority (RRA).
I was in good company too as I arrived in the company of a colleague and friend from Nigeria, Christie Cole of CNBC Africa.
After getting some light refreshments enough to satisfy our taste buds Christie and I soon settled down at a corner where we could practically see everything going on.
Like bees attracted to a honeycomb, the place began to swarm with crowds with everywhere abuzz. Soon, Romeo Ella, Media & Communications Manager at ATAF and his counterpart from RRA, Ms Benimana joined us at the table and just then Pedro the leader of the band, who I was told had been literally ‘holding the mic’ (a euphemism for playing music) for over a decade, was playing one of the popular lyrics of Nigeria’s music crooner, Davido, aka Omo Babaolowo, “If I tell you say I love you…My body, my money Na your own o baby…”
He followed that with yet other lyrics by Nigeria’s born ace musician, Psquare, which I can’t remember now and other hit tracks of music stars, such that anyone passing by and hearing those songs would have safely hazard a guess that the entirety of the audience were Nigerians. But of course, this was farther from the truth.
From my vantage position, I could see from the swaying hips movements at different tables as well as guests in standing positions and the sing-along humming sounds within earshot that these Nigerian music icons had a cult of followings amongst the diverse crowds seated out here this particular evening in Kigali, and I felt really proud as a Nigerian.
Perhaps reading my mind, Romeo, who by the way is from South Africa, pointedly admitted the fact that Nigerians had an edge above the rest of the continent as far as the entertainment industry is concerned.
“Bravo, I see you guys have taken over Africa entirely. There’s nowhere they play music across Africa, you must definitely hear songs being played by Nigerian superstars. Men, these guys are really good, I tell you,” Romeo stated with a sardonic smile escaping his lips.
In my mind, I was like, see this guy self, what do expect from your big brother Nigeria now? That’s how we roll men! But l just managed to say, “We’re trying my brother.” Of course, any discerning mind would readily know from the tone of my voice that I wore my national pride proudly as a Nigerian with no apologies.
THE evening soiree was officially declared open by Ziggy Fikiri Nshimiyimana, a staff of Rwanda Revenue Authority, in charge of the agency’s Digital Media Management.
The RRA official who also doubled as the compere and comedian extraordinaire shared rib-cracking jokes in English and subsequently translated in French for the benefits of the Francophone audience in our midst, which sent everyone reeling in laughter.
Ziggy Double 55, as he is fondly called on stage, who is a record artiste himself, would, later on, entertain the guests with his genre of music called Rumba, which is popular in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and its environs but which according to him, he has been able to tweak and deliver in the Rwandese way.
Sorry I digressed.
WITH exchange of banters and random banalities over, what followed was at the risk of being immodest, an interlude of the most scintillating performances I have witnessed anywhere in a long while.
For over one hour the guests were treated to what you could call command performances by different cultural troupes from Rwanda.
The group who took the first shot, as I was graciously informed by Gloria, who played the good host till the end, is called the Abakaraza drummers.
A quick headcount revealed that the drummers were about 12 able-bodied men in all. These men, mostly in their late 20s to mid-30s had fine physique as could be seen in their heavy bare chests and thick biceps. The drummers formed three rows with each straddling a large drum which they beat randomly, with the drumbeat producing thunderclaps and a cacophony of harmonic sounds. The audience watched in awe.
However, listening to the drumbeat and all, I sort of experienced a sense of déjà vu as something kept telling me that I had seen such artistic performances before. As I searched my brain for answers, it came. I recall seeing the same sets of drums somewhere back home in Southwestern Nigeria. I don’t know much about drums though but the shapes and sizes of the drums I could bet, looked like the Gbedu drums. These are big drums fastened with percussion instrument traditionally used on state occasions or during ceremonies of Ogoni, the ancient Yoruba secret
society. The Gbedu drum is said to have been brought to the Lagos area in the seventeenth century by Edo diplomats, symbolising the hegemony of the Benin Empire among the Yoruba, the Gbedu drum signifies royalty.
Talking about the significance of the drum, Gloria would later reveal that the Abakaraza drummers usually perform at occasions to welcome special people who command some respect in their estimation. How sweet, I said.
Certainly, by the account given by Gloria, I think one could safely infer that there was indeed some cultural relativism across the continent as most regions shared some cultural affinity.
Soon it was the turn of the second sets of performers, who thankfully this time were women dancers. Called Ababyenni, the women who are traditional dancers performed a kind of dance called Unushayayo.
THE bevy of ladies, who I gladly christened “dancing damsels from Rwanda” to the admiration of Gloria, in their gyrating derriere reminded one of the Tuareg women from Mali, who performed at an event I attended in that country back in 2008.
In the way the Ababyenni dancers literally danced attendance upon the audience swaying their hips that way and this way like practice seductress, you could tell that the similarities in performances amongst Tuareg women and even maiden dance steps from the northern women of Nigeria was tellingly the same.
The last of the performances was from the warrior tribes. The men who looked daring in their selected costumes were truly awesome.
This group, known as Intore or otherwise referred to as traditionally trained warriors or land protestors bore arrows and shields.
This group who added a lot of panache to their performances fought mute battles with imaginary opponents chasing them away and like victors returned home to a rousing hero’s welcome. They didn’t stop there. The group subsequently displayed stunning acrobatics literally lifting themselves off the ground, a sight which reminded one of the Atilogu dancers from Eastern Nigeria, known for such electrifying performances.
For their eclectic performances and acts of derring-do they got thunderous applauses from the ever appreciative audience.
With the traditional performances over, Pedro and his crew soon mounted the stage to continue the Karaoke night.
Amongst other things, they performed songs like Strength of a Woman by Shaggy, Cherie Na Nigga by Ziggy, Vulindela by Brenda Fassi and other hit tracks of fast rising music stars across the continent and beyond.
SOON guests filed out to treat themselves to a buffet dinner with choice menu complemented by fish and beef barbecue just as servers passed assorted wines and drinks round to help guests down the edibles.
Pedro and his team would later set the stage for the final onslaught on the dance floor. Talk of saving the best for the last.
The sultry vocalist played some familiar tunes and that was all I needed. Pronto, I got off my seat and did some convulsive dance steps Naija style as I moved on stage.
Instantly, yours sincerely became the tourist attraction as I enjoyed my few minutes of fame. I heard loud cheers behind my back but I was fully in joyous merriment at this point in time to acknowledge any cheers.
Soon there was literally ‘blood’ on the dance floor as other guests who took the cue from me joined me on stage to shake off some sweats. Come and see some crazy Jones kinda dance steps. Men, everyone caught the bug!
At past 10 pm when I said my adieus to Tanya and Fiona in time to retire to my room, the party was still turbocharged. Echoes of the reverberating sounds of the reverie wore far into past midnight.
Naturally, when participants converged for the later part of the conference the next day, you could hear many people discussing in hush tones somewhat excitedly about the previous night’s soiree and won’t have minded an encore performance and this they told the organisers in clear terms.
It was indeed a night to remember. Surely, memories are made of this.
