Simon Ateba/Just back from the UAE

The United Arab Emirates is a wonder every Nigerian should experience to understand how far behind their country is, despite its oil wealth

We, in Nigeria, like to boast that the country is the giant of Africa, the most populous on the continent, with the largest economy. But my trip, last month, to the United Arab Emirates, UAE, in the south-east end of the Arabian Peninsula on the Persian Gulf, left me bewildered. The shock was so overwhelming that keeping all of it to myself would be a great disservice to millions of Nigerians who may never have the opportunity to go beyond the shores of their country and see things for themselves.

•Dubai International Airport

How could a country that was established on 2 December 1971 in the desert be years ahead of Nigeria, a country with the same oil wealth that became independent in 1960? I kept wondering. How could a country go from having only one little main road and barasti houses in 1961 be transformed so fast into a paradise with the tallest building on earth? I kept asking myself as I moved from the metro station to the Dubai Mall, a sophisticated mega mall that makes Ikeja City Mall in Lagos appear like a little shop. But I am too fast and getting a bit too emotional. I need to slow down for some minutes and take you all the way from the beginning.

I left the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos on Thursday, 24 April 2014, at about 9.30pm Nigerian time and arrived Dubai at 7.30am on Friday, 25 April, UAE time. The UAE was three hours ahead of Nigeria when I arrived.

The terminal building in Lagos was chaotic and hot, with unhelpful standing fans here and there, but it appeared normal to me because I have been used to it as an aviation correspondent since 2008. Besides, I was also deceived by the much celebrated transformational achievement by the former Minister of Aviation, Stella Oduah. Oduah and her public relations teams had boasted that the Lagos Airport could now compete with any other airport in the world following its remodelling. However, the moment the Emirates plane I was aboard, a comfortable Boeing 777-300, landed at the Dubai International Airport my heart stopped a little, and I knew I was no more in a third world country.

The cooling system was just perfect and there was no standing fan anywhere. Airport staff were everywhere, giving arriving passengers direction even though the airport was already clearly marked. The passport control did not take more than five minutes, to my shock. I also spent about five minutes at the baggage claim area, though I later dumped all the old clothes that I went with and bought new ones with little money.

•Egyptian dance on the desert safari

The airport is a beauty. Right in the middle of the terminal building, a fast train takes passengers from one side of the airport to the other. Then wide, comfortable lifts take them up and down in record time to get everything that is necessary for their trip. The airport is so well illuminated that everywhere appears colourful and orderly. Airport workers smile a lot and answer virtually all the questions you ask them without showing anger or demanding bribe. No one at the airport asks you if ‘there is nothing for the boys’, as it happens so frequently and so shamelessly at many Nigerian airports that I have covered for years. At the airport, the trolleys are free of charge and currency exchange offices are everywhere. The price is official and the same and no one at the airport tries to scam or short-change you, even though you are a foreigner with little knowledge of the environment. If I am to describe everything at the Dubai airport, this magazine will not be able to contain it all.

Once I was done with immigration and baggage claim area in 10 minutes, I got into a taxi driven by an Indian and headed to Ramee International Hotel in Deira, where many Nigerians live and have fun at Garage night club on the third floor of the hotel. Ramee International Hotel is a two star-hotel, but the cleanliness and the service I received was better than what I have received in Nigeria in some three- or more-star hotels. Every day, when I returned to my room, it was always neat, always quiet, always beautiful, and new soaps were always added even though I had not finished using the other ones. The same applied for the hygienic paper, towel and every other thing. The young Filipina at the reception gave me a metro card after I told them I was new in town. Every time I asked them to give me a wake-up call, they always did and greeted me every morning with the broadest of smiles.

One thing that will strike you when you first arrive Dubai is how calm and quiet the city is. For the entire week I was there, I did not hear the honking of cars or the roaring of electric-generating sets. Electricity was stable and was not taken, even for 30 seconds. For the whole time that I was in that Arab country, I did not witness any fight. The only place where someone raised his voice a bit was at the Etisalat office at the Dubai Mall; and all the man said was, “It is my right. It is my right,” as he urged the service provider’s officials to explain why his data were finishing fast on his phone. The issue was promptly resolved and normal life continued. When I arrived, and after I had settled my accommodation issue, I moved straight to the metro station, headed to the Dubai Mall for my first meal.

Dubai itself is a metropolis, a global city and a business gateway for the Middle East and Africa. From the road to the metro station, you see all kinds of people on earth, except, maybe, those from Israel, as they promptly tell you that everyone on earth is welcome to their country, except Israelis. Everything in Dubai, from the road network to the skyscrapers, to the business centre, is beautiful. Everything seems to depend on electricity, so much so that people there do not understand what it means to live in darkness or not being able to iron your clothes or watch TV if you want to.

Everywhere you go, when you seem to have lost your way, you approach policemen who are stationed in many places. The cops look neat and nice and they direct you everywhere you want to go without harassing you. On one occasion, when the money in my card was used up, after coming out of the metro I explained to one cop and he allowed me to pass without paying.

Unlike here in Nigeria where we often avoid cops, in Dubai people go to them when they are in need or trouble. I did not feel threatened by any policeman and did not see any of them holding a gun or an AK-47 rifle, the type that we see everywhere in Lagos. At night, everywhere in Dubai is lit. Not just the main roads, everywhere, including the inner roads. I felt so safe that several times, I dashed out at 1am to get some mango juice.

•Road in Dubai

The taxi drivers in Dubai are just too clean and polite. There is no haggling over fares. There is a meter in the taxi and you just tell the cabman where you are going and if you encounter traffic snarls, there is no argument, no insult, no abuses as it often happens in Lagos where, sometimes, the cabman will blame the passenger for the traffic jam.

The Dubai Mall is overwhelming. In a week, I could not go everywhere. From the famous aquarium to the shoe area or the food court, everything is diverse; as diverse and as beautiful as the universe.

One problem that I had at the mall was finding African food. I did not find any and made do with what I could find. Everywhere in the mall and almost everywhere in Dubai, you can take pictures, including inside the airport. Only in some restricted area within the airport is it forbidden to take picture; and it was clearly written that pictures are not allowed. No one harasses you for taking a picture of a building. Even the mosque, people are allowed to take pictures, unlike in Nigeria where I was almost beaten to death for taking the picture of a church in Lagos.

•The Dubai Mall

Dubai is a touristic city and the same night that I arrived, I went for a ship cruise – to see Dubai at night, eat some Arab food and enjoy some Egyptian dance. You pay about $50 for that treat. A sport utility vehicle comes to pick you from the hotel and drops you at the hotel after the three-hour enjoyment. There are so many things to do in Dubai, from the desert safari to the ship cruise, to a tour of Dubai, to going to the gold market or visiting the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building on the planet.

 The Burj Khalifa has been the tallest building in the world since 2010. With a height of 829.8 metres, it is classified as megatall.

Having spent some days in Dubai, I decided to go to Abu Dhabi, the capital. The UAE is a federation of seven emirates. Each emirate is governed by a Sheikh or Emir who jointly form the Federal Supreme Council, which is the highest legislative and executive body in the country. One of the Emirs or Sheikhs is selected as the President of the United Arab Emirates. I could not go to all the seven Emirates. I visited only Dubai and Abu Dhabi and did not have enough time to go to Ajman, Fujairah, Ras al-Khaimah, Sharjah and Umm al-Quwain.

Abu Dhabi and Dubai are the centres of commercial and cultural activities. Although Islam is the official religion of the UAE, and Arabic is the official language, one cannot be harassed based on one’s religion or language. Many people in Dubai and Abu Dhabi speak English fluently, right from the cabman who picks you from the airport.

Abu Dhabi is a wonder. Everything, including the trees, is beautiful there. When you leave Dubai and are about entering Abu Dhabi, the roads change from black to brown. All the roads are tarred and there is no single pothole from Dubai to Abu Dhabi, a distance of about 124 kilometres. There is no single dirt or paper on the road.

The old palace of the late Sheikh Zayed is massive and just besides it, helicopters take off from the water and others drop busy executives on top of a five-star hotel; executives who do not want to go through the stress of road travel. Between Dubai and Abu Dhabi and everywhere else, there is street light, even on bridges, and none of the light was broken. The infrastructure is overwhelming and thinking all these achievements took place within the last four decades is humbling.

•Simon Ateba with tourists from Holland in front of Sheikh Zayed mosque in Abu Dhabi

It is said that in 1962, Abu Dhabi became the first of the emirates to begin exporting oil. The late Sheikh Zayed, ruler of Abu Dhabi and the first president of the UAE, oversaw the development of the Emirates and steered oil revenues into healthcare, education and infrastructure. Today, the Emirates’ oil reserves are ranked as the seventh-largest in the world. Tourism is said be more rewarding now than oil revenues. One man told me, their leaders knew that oil would not always be there, and they decided to invest oil wealth in infrastructure and services in order to develop tourism. And they are reaping bountifully from that decision. It was indeed, a journey to remember, an adventure never to forget.

On 1 May, when I returned to Nigeria, the chaos started from the jet bridge at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport once we alighted the Boeing 777-300 operated by Emirates Airline. The heat was everywhere in the walkway and the rug there was dirty and smelling.

The chaos increased once inside the terminal building. One man threatened to beat up an immigration officer because of the delay and the confusion. In return, the proud officer promised to “finish” him and “finish your bastard relatives”.

“Your mother is a bastard,” the passenger replied. Voices rose but normalcy returned.

•Office building in Abu Dhabi

The heat was unbearable inside the terminal building. The confusion was unimaginable. People were shouting or speaking in very high tones. There was nowhere to properly stay in line. Foreign passengers, who were arriving Nigeria for the first time, watched in disbelief and held their passports tight, unsure of what was happening. Unlike at the Dubai airport, where passport control took a maximum of five minutes, at the Lagos airport we were there for about two hours. Everyone was sweating.

It seemed like a jungle, a state of nature, with people screaming left and right. Once the immigration officers had verified and stamped our passports, people fought at the baggage claim area to get their luggage from the “conveyor belt”, as the “baggage carousel” is known here. As the baggage came out through one of the holes in the walls and went back in to circle again, passengers lost their cool.

•Simon Ateba on the desert safari

To get out of the terminal building was a Herculean task. Everyone came out through one small door. One woman sat by one side of the door with her legs crossed. A policeman stood by her side. We all had to queue to get off that area. It took long minutes. Once outside the terminal building, all manner of people approached us. Some were taxi drivers, others were money changers. One man was a beggar who asked me if I had brought something for him abroad! At the old and new car parks, there was no electricity. Everywhere was dark and foreboding.

The taxi driver who carried me, promptly informed me a bomb had just exploded on the outskirts of Abuja, and many people died. As we were about entering Ketu, after the traffic snarl, one man came from nowhere in another car and hit us, damaging our taxi. The taxi driver got out and the chaos continued. The man fled as we were trying to park by the side of the road, close to a loudspeaker advertising drugs. It was already 10pm and when I got home, there was no electricity. A sweet welcome to Lagos, a return to a third world country, where depressing news, chaos and calamity fill the newspapers. Here, it is not about inventing the next iphone or creating the latest brand; down here things are still way behind. They may not change until corruption is curtailed and serious investment is done on infrastructure and basic decency.

Lagos, here I am.