Thanks for the good wishes. With a bit of luck I won't have anything to write about but then I might just make something up.
When I was in the UK going to school I used to listen to Andy Kershaw's radio show. He was a great admirer and promoter of Ali and even played some tapes he had made informally when the musician visited him at home in the UK.
The most interesting music from Africa I have heard is that played on the kora, from Mali. The instrument has such a unique sound; I have never heard anything like it.
I don't know anything about Algerian music but I look forward to learning a bit about it, even if it's just some kind of wailing pop music.
I became nervous waiting around for a better offer, if one was even to be found, and signed up for a spell of Twin Otter flying based in Hassi Messaoud, Algeria. I cannot even find the place on a chart, so that I think it's just some oil camp out in the desert. That should keep me out of trouble for a while.
When I asked I was told that there was some trouble near the Tunisian border but that was all, that Algeria was calm. Then, almost as an afterthought, they said some American company had a vehicle shot up in Algiers just the other day. Great! If I feel homesick I can just take a few days off there.
I am sure that I shall be back in Nigeria one of these days, if only for some fuel and a bit of harassment, a bit of 'Dis be ah serioss hoffense,' followed by, 'What do you have for me?'
A colleague was telling me about a King Air in Niamey, when I was all, 'Yeah! Let's go get it!' Turns out he doesn't even like West Africa, keeps trying to put the trip off. What a weirdo! Meeting strange black folks with guns, paperwork and bad attitudes, what could be more fun than that?
I wish I had something good to say about the news coming out of Nigeria but all I can say is that I hope things work out for everyone. That doesn't seem to be the way it is going, though. You all be careful now.