Reborn Nigeria train trip tells nation's history

ABOARD THE OONI OF IFE TO NORTHERN NIGERIA — The whistle sounds across the arid plains of scrub brush and exposed rocky cliffs. It blares through the narrow, crowded corridors of city market stalls, piles of clothes and hot red peppers lying a mere arm's length away from the vibrating metal track. Its rattling coaches draw stares as children run toward it, waving, as it leaves Lagos, Nigeria's massive southwestern city, on the long trip north to Kano. But in the north, boys wearing tattered soccer jerseys herding cattle watch impassively, with machetes and long-barreled guns over their shoulders.

The train is back in Nigeria, and the 35-hour trip along its 700-mile (1,125-kilometer) route offers a glimpse of the nation's history and landscapes, while also allowing travelers to see its ethnic and religious diversity firsthand ciontinued