A failed bombing, an opportunity for Nigeria
"What do you have in your bags?" bellowed the customs officer at Murtala Muhammed International Airport. Dressed in plain clothes, he seemed a jovial fellow. It was Dec. 26, 1999. I was checking luggage in Lagos, Nigeria, before boarding a flight to Detroit via Amsterdam.
I ticked off my list: clothing, books, toiletries, wood carvings and dried foodstuff. And a rusty sword that I had purchased as a souvenir from a street vendor in Lagos.
"Would you like to see it?" I asked the official.
"Oh, no," he replied in mock horror. "I don't like weapons. But where is my Christmas present?"… Seguir leyendo »