KC news- LAGOS, March 10 (AFP)

From lager louts to Lawrence case, Cook gets schoolroom grilling

- Facing questions ranging from the bad behavior of

British youths in Ibiza to the handling of the Stephen Lawrence inquiry,

British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook got a grilling from children at a top

Nigerian school Wednesday.

In a 20-minute session at the prestigious Kings College in Lagos, Cook,

who was in Nigeria on a two-day visit, faced a barrage of questions on

topics from Britons abroad to Nigerians in Britain.

He admitted afterwards it had been a discomfiting experience.

The school set up by British colonial authorities in 1909 is alma mater to

some of Nigeria's best known politicians and civil servants.

And the audience of school children invited to put questions to their

distinguished visitor were not deterred from putting the British

government's top diplomat on the spot.

"Britain has stolen lots of pieces of Nigeria's cultural heritage," one

young student stated. "What are you going to do to see that they are

returned?" she asked.

For a renowned parliamentary debater, the answer was a bit weak. "I cannot

make any commitment ... I will talk to my colleagues -- but I should say

that as stewards we do look after all artefacts well."

Another question followed on Britain's handling of the Stephen Lawrence

affair -- the botched inquiry conducted by London's police into the racist

killing of a black British youth.

Cook said the affair showed that the problem of racism was being taken

seriously in Britain and that it was being confronted.

Others wanted to know what he had done during his two-day stay in Nigeria

(talked too much to politicians, Cook said) and what he thought of the

country's political perspectives (improving, he opined).

The most unexpected question was on the notoriously bad behaviour of young

Britons holidaying on the Spanish island of Ibiza.

"Is that a major concern in Nigeria?" a bemused foreign secretary asked,

before assuring his audience that Britain always urges its citizens to

show respect for places they visit and observe local laws -- a clear

repudiation of so-called "lager louts".

The minister said afterwards he had faced tougher questioning from the

schoolchildren than from the pack of reporters following him on the visit

and that he was impressed by the students.

 

The minister announced that Britain was donating 2,000 pounds (3,200

dollars) to be divided between the school and its sister school, Queens

College.

He then posed for a school photograph and was presented with a tee-shirt,

some Nigerian art work, and in honour of his well-known interest in equine

matters, a carved wooden horse's head.

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