Adichie focuses on Nigeria's present for new novel

LAGOS, Nigeria — The traffic is there, grinding life to a halt as the middle class pound out messages on BlackBerry mobile phones and worry about Facebook. The heat, the sweat and the daily tragedy of unclaimed bodies lying alongside roadways, passers-by hurrying past for fear of someone else's misfortune becoming entangled in their own.

This is modern life in Nigeria's largest city, Lagos, which becomes almost a character of its own in novelist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's new book, "Americanah." And within its pages, one catches self-acknowledged glimpses of the writer herself, who shot to fame with her previous love story set during Nigeria's civil war called "Half of a Yellow Sun."

As that book is being made into a movie, more international attention will focus on Adichie, part of a raft of new Nigerian writers finding acclaim after years of military-induced slumber in a nation with a rich literary history. Yet Adichie, like her new book's heroine, finds herself straddled between a life in the United States and one in Nigeria, where even seemingly innocuous comments on hair care and wigs can stir resentment.

"I'm writing about where I care about and I deeply, deeply care about Nigeria," Adichie told The Associated Press. "Nigeria is the country that most infuriates me and it is the country I love the most. I think when you're emotionally invested in a place as a storyteller, it becomes organic."

That sense of place runs throughout "Americanah," — make sure to stress the fourth syllable, says the daughter of a university professor and a university registrar. It's a term people use to describe the accents carried by some of the Nigerians now returning in droves to the country after it embraced an uneasy democracy after years of military rule. While oil and gas money continues to flow and other business opportunities abound, the nation's universities now sit in shambles, graduating more unqualified students than can be offered jobs.

That intellectual dulling has been challenged by a host of new writers, many of whom like Adichie live almost double lives abroad.

"She is part of the pack of novelists who have, after what you might call the two decades of silence, who have helped to tell Nigerian stories to the whole world again," writer Tolu Ogunlesi said. "It was the dictatorships and all that's associated with them. ... The '80s and '90s were dark ages of sorts for Nigeria."

It's that period where "Americanah" finds its beginning. Though dismissing the idea of being a "dutiful daughter of literary conventions," Adichie's new novel takes root in the vagaries and murmured promises of a love story like much of her other work. It also focuses largely on the slim percentage of Nigerians able to afford diesel generators in a country largely without electricity and who look at the poor through the chilled air and tinted-glass windows of luxury SUVs.

Despite that, her writing hits a nerve with Nigerian readers who identify with the descriptions of church worship services focused on getting foreign visas and the nervous wives of rich men in a nation notorious for philandering. Adichie describes herself as looking "at the world through Nigerian eyes," but she doesn't hold back on criticizing its culture that fosters widespread government corruption. Or what she perceives as the excessive, neutered politeness of "political-correct language" in the U.S.

"Nigeria wasn't set up to succeed, but the extent of its failure is ours. It's our responsibility," she said. "This country is full of so many intelligent people, so much energy, so much potential, so why are we here?"

That kind of truth telling isn't exactly welcome, even in a democratic Nigeria. Speaking Saturday night at a book signing, Adichie drew laughter and a few nervous looks from organizers by describing President Goodluck Jonathan as "not a bad guy, he just seems like he's floundering and has no clue."

It also leads to comparisons some make between Adichie and late author Chinua Achebe, who died in March at age 82. Both come from the Igbo people of Nigeria's southeast and Achebe's own praise of Adichie graces the cover of her new novel in Nigeria. Adichie said the rise of new writers served as a testament to the power of Achebe's writings and the works of others.

"I think there's just this wonderful flowering that's happening," she said.

Even more controversial, it seems, have been Adichie's comments on natural hair in Nigeria, where many spend huge sums of money on straight-banged wigs and weaves known as Indian hair. An online commenter on Twitter asserted that Adichie, whose natural hair sits in buns atop her head, said that those wearing weaves were insecure, sparking controversy. Adichie herself ended up responding to the criticism and gave a recent audience advice on finding hair conditioners with no sulfates.

"It's only black women for whom an entire industry exists which is geared toward specifically making sure that the hair that grows on their head looks different," she said. "I want natural black hair to be an equally valid option, not something interesting, not something you do when you're a jazz musician, but something you can do when you're a lawyer in a fancy firm in New York City or if you're a politician in Abuja," Nigeria's capital.

That, however, still remains a challenge. Adichie acknowledged it herself by pausing, and then adding: "My mother doesn't like my hair like that. She is still praying."

Nigerian ID to double as bank card

Nigeria's new national ID card which will function both as a national ID and as a bank card.

Nigerian government has announced a proposed Mastercard-branded National Identity smart cards with electronic payment capability, Nigerian newspaper the Guardian reported.

The issuance will start within the next three months under the auspices of the National Identity Management Commission and will cover citizens aged 16 and above.

Pensioners will be the first group to pilot the new scheme. The plan will create the largest rollout of an electronic payment solution of its kind at once, to an unbanked population.

Only 30 per cent of an estimated 160m Nigerians have access to financial services and with these cards, will bring the other 70 per cent into formal financial system.

The country has focused on improving access, the usage and quality of financial services in the program. Personal data, including biometric data will remain with the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Kenya, under the Jubilee Manifesto, has proposed to establish a universal single registration system activated at birth which will streamline birth registration, National ID registration, voter registration, NHIF, NSSF, and any other tax or commercial related registration. Whereas not conceptualized to including payments, it seems likely to be able to include the service.

Best Exercises for a Flat Stomach

A bulging stomach is a problem area for most mortals. Even those who are naturally thin tend to develop a paunch as they step into their 30s. Our stomachs store fat for a number of reasons; these reasons range from the genetic to plain abuse of food and drink, with little to no exercise. Often, those who invest heavily in exercise and diet to banish the bulging stomach, do so with a vague and incorrect idea of what is needed for a flat stomach. Today, we give you a few exercises that will strengthen and create lean abdominal muscles, help you eliminate a flabby belly and give you a flat stomach that helps you fight disease and ill-health.*Images courtesy: © Thinkstock photos/ Getty Images

Smoking prevalence; males (% of adults) in Nigeria

The Smoking prevalence; males (% of adults) in Nigeria was 10.49 in 2009, according to a World Bank report, published in 2010. Prevalence of smoking, male is the percentage of men ages 15 and over who smoke any form of tobacco, including cigarettes, cigars, and pipes, and excluding smokeless tobacco. Data include daily and non-daily smoking.This page includes a historical data chart, news and forecasts for Smoking prevalence; males (% of adults) in Nigeria.

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What’s Worse Than a Coworker Who Undermines You?

Bad colleagues can wreak havoc. One of the signs of a bad coworker is a pattern of persistent undermining—intentionally hindering a colleague’s success, reputation, or relationships. If you’ve ever had a coworker actively interfere with your productivity, try to make you look bad, steal your ideas, or give you false information, you’ve been the victim of undermining.

The opposite of an underminer is a supporter. When colleagues are supportive, they go out of their way to be givers rather than takers, working to enhance our productivity, make us look good, share ideas, and provide timely help.

Most people assume that relationships are either bad or good. Our coworkers are either takers who undermine us or givers who support us. But research shows otherwise: negative and positive relationships are independent. Many of us have ambivalent relationships with a colleague who undermines us in some situations but supports us in others. What are the implications of these ambivalent relationships?

In a fascinating study led by Michelle Duffy, police officers filled out a survey about how often their closest colleague undermined and supported them. Officers who felt undermined were less committed at work, experienced more physical health problems, and were more likely to take unauthorized breaks and be absent from work. Being undermined was a major source of stress.

But when the underminer was also supportive, things got worse. The officers experienced even lower commitment, had more health issues, and missed more work. It can actually worse to have a colleague who alternates between Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde than to work with Mr. Hyde all the time. When a colleague is a pure taker, you know what to expect, and you can devise strategies for minimizing your exposure and collaboration. But if that colleague takes in some situations and gives in others, it’s harder to avoid the relationship altogether, and it can be quite unpredictable. As Duffy’s team explains, “it takes more emotional energy and coping resources to deal with individuals who are inconsistent.”

Frenemies are worse than enemies, and it’s not just in the workplace. Psychologist Bert Uchino finds the same patterns in everyday relationships. In one study, his team surveyed older adults about how the ten most important people in their networks responded to requests assistance. Some relationships were consistently helpful, others made things worse rather than better, and some were ambivalent, featuring a mix of the two. The adults completed two anxiety-provoking tasks: delivering a speech with minimal preparation and taking a rapid-fire math test. Uchino’s team tracked their heart rates.

The more ambivalent ties people had, the more their heart rates spiked during the speech and the math test. Having close connections that were both undermining and supportive was associated with greater stress. In another study of several hundred adults, the more ambivalent relationships they had, the more likely they were to be stressed, depressed, and dissatisfied with their lives.

One implication of this evidence is that it could be wise to avoid ambivalent relationships, even more so than purely negative relationships. But a different strategy might also be effective. Although receiving support from the same person who undermines us is stressful, receiving support from a different person can serve as a buffer. In the study of police officers, Duffy’s team found that having a supportive boss partially reduced the negative effects of an ambivalent coworker. Indeed, after reviewing several decades of research on good and bad bosses, psychologist Robert Sutton concludes that one of the most critical roles for a boss is to serve as a human shield, protecting people against the slings and arrows of bad relationships.

When we’re being undermined by one person, we recognize the importance of seeking support from someone else. But it may be even more critical to invest in those supportive relationships when dealing with someone who’s guilty of both undermining and supporting us.