Can anyone tell me about life in Nigeria?

[UnSerpentQuiCourt]

I am the RE subject leader in our tiny village school which will soon be setting up a link with a school in Lagos through the local bishop.
I have been asked to write a scheme of work for an RE topic considering issues of life in Nigeria for year 3 and 4, but have no knowledge of the country. What issues are faced by Nigerian children?
I have read that Nigeria is 7th in the world for asylum seekers, but that they are economic migrants in the main. I have vaguely hear that there is unrest and violence in some areas.
I was thinking of producing something looking at the concepts of asylum and sanctuary; would this be relevant or are issues of inequality of income more pressing?
Obviously I also want to show some of the positives of the country and the culture, but those are easier to find.

[Themasterandmargaritas]

Beeb site here sorry.

[Themasterandmargaritas]

I think you need to contact the school in Lagos first and ask them directly what affects the lives of children in yr3 and 4. As Bark says, it'll really depend on what kind of school it is.

It could well be corruption, lack of access to educational materials, overcrowding, violence can be religiously focussed, with a huge divide between muslim and christian faiths. Then there are tribal divides that affect the majority of African countries. Inequality of income is certainly something that most African children could relate to, no matter which side of the divide they are on.

Currently there are issues with the elections that were due to start on Saturday [http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12944373 see here]]. If you click through the Nigeria links on the that BBC site you can find out quite a lot of useful information on Nigeria. Alternatively see what the UK Gov is doing in Nigeria here.

[BarkisIsWilling]

Well, to my thinking the inequality in Lagos is more economic than anything else. People come there from West Africa and Nigeria to seek their fortunes, so the concept of "economic refugees" would chime with the school children possibly more than one of "asylum seekers".

There are huge gulfs between the haves and have nots, and without knowing more about the school you are linking with, its location and sundry other factors, I'd hate to mislead you, albeit with every good intention in the world.

Loving your username by the way.

[UnSerpentQuiCourt]

Thank you. It gives me something to start with. Why do you say 'given that the school is in Lagos'? Is inequality worse there? Is it exceptionally rich or poor? I feel very ignorant; I only know Europe.

[BarkisIsWilling]

Depending on where they live and who looks after them, Nigerian children run the whole gamut from wii/psp/mp3 player owning brats to caregiving, breadwinning pillars of the family. It would be hard to generalise about the experiences and knowledge, however I think that given that the school is in Lagos, "issues of inequality of income" would be something they could all relate to.