KC news- LAGOS, March 10 (AFP)
From lager louts to Lawrence case, Cook gets schoolroom grilling
- Facing questions ranging from the bad behavior ofBritish 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.